The 'Great' Year
by the-unforgiving
Summary: Within the brick walls are stories of many students, some painful, some intriguing, and some with a tragic ending. By now the students of Collins High know not to ever expect a great year, though after this one, some students have completely changed their mind, whether for the good or bad. There is always a little light at the end of the tunnel, but is there ever really enough?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A new story. I know the hig school plot is over used, but this isn't going to be one of the ones that is filled with sunshine and roses, just a warning. This story will involve triggering themes such as self harm, eating disorders, abuse, rape; among some other things. If these are triggers for yoy, I would suggest not reading this story. **

The 'Great' Year

Katniss stood in her kitchen, frantically scrubbing at a breakfast bowl, ignoring the raven black curls flying in her face and the fact that her jacket sleeves were soaking into the soapy dishwater, even though the feeling was extremely uncomfortable. Once the breakfast bowl was clean, she stuffed it in the dish drained and let out a sigh of relief as she looked up at the clock. There were fifteen minutes left until the bell for Roll Call would go at Collins High, and the school was only about a street or two away, so hopefully if she and her sister went now, they'd be able to make it there on time on time. While she normally didn't care about being late, she didn't want her sister to be late on her very first day of Year Seven, as she had been four years ago.

"Prim! Are you ready to go?" Katniss called for her sister, grabbing her school bag and slinging it over her shoulder. When she got no answer from her sister, she began to walk into the living room, wondering if her sister was curled up on the sofa because of first day nerves, but once she really saw what her sister was doing, a frown appearing on her face immediately. "Prim, come on... we have to go. Mom will eat when she's ready." She muttered bitterly.

"Katniss... you know Mom won't eat unless we tell her to." Prim said back, staring up at Katniss as she balanced the bowl of corn flakes carefully on their mother's lap. Katniss let out a small sigh, staring at her sister. Prim. She still believed in their mother, even when Katniss had long since given up on her. "Can I try a few more times before we have to go... please?" Katniss watched her for a moment. There was no way her mother would eat, no matter what Prim would do, but she would keep going any way. "Fine, I'll come."

Katniss watched as Prim got up, their mother not moving an inch, and placed her bowl by the sink. Katniss would normally go and wash it up, but there was no time for that now if she wanted her and Prim to get to school on time. She opened the door and watched as Prim quickly ran over to kiss their mother on a forehead, then ran back to join her, a new feeling running through her. Was it guilt... or more resentment? Avoiding her mother was just a natural thing right now, as it seemed to have always been. Her mother, even before everything that had happened, hadn't been the usual cookie baking, story reading, art and craft creating stereotypical mother, but at least she could confidently say that she actually had a love for her mother... but then, when she was only a few months away from turning twelve, everything changed.

The only things Katniss let herself, or rather, her brain had forced her to remember about the very day of the 'incident' was being pulled out of a soccer game which she had been winning, and taken to the office, where she was picked up by an odd aunt that she had only met at a Christmas party when she was little and taken hone to find a bunch of the distant family there with her mother, all of them looking grave, upset or angry. A few minutes later, she found out that her father had just collapsed at work, and had passed away in the ambulance from a heart attack. From that day, things had never been the same.

At first, things seemed to be okay. Nice neighbors would come over with cooked meals and send flowers as the family grieved, but once months passed and the meals stopped coming, she began to realize that all was not well with her mother. Soon, she had lost her job at the hospital. Soon, the cupboards and refrigerator was empty. Soon, the power was shut off, and then almost the water had gone off too. Until Katniss could get a job, it was a real, and still was a struggle. Only one person ever knew about the struggles, and that was one of the neighbors, a boy a little older than her that she could trust. Now, he was in university, and had less time to talk.

Katniss began to walk with Prim, keeping her close to her just in case anyone would try to start something in the morning, the neighborhood sometimes proving to be quite unpredictable. Sometimes, there was a break in in one of the houses, a robbery, a stabbing, a crazy drunken man running across the road naked... you could never fully get peace in the area where she lived... and once she heard yelling from a house towards the end of the street, one of the nicer ones (the houses seemed to get slightly nicer as the houses went down; Katniss lived at the top end of the street where the houses weren't so good), and since it was so loud, she couldn't help but hear what was going on as she and Prim walked.

"Why didn't you tell me that you got a letter from your father yesterday?!" A shriek came from the house; the voice belonging to a woman. Katniss felt that the voice was a little bit familiar, but then again, another part of her thought that it was probably nothing. As she and Prim were close to turning the corner, she heard the sound of a smash of glass. "Peeta Mellark, did I raise you to be a weakling?!"

"No, mother." Peeta's voice was calm; oddly calm, and before who the owner of the voice really sunk into her head, Katniss raised an eyebrow. "Father said that it was for my eyes only... so I kept it a secret." Katniss turned the corner as she heard what she thought was the sound of a slap or something falling, confusing her more... but then it hit her.

Oh God. Oh God. Inside that house was Peeta Mellark, the boy who used to be the son of the baker. She had known him (properly, at least... though she was still not sure if it really counted as properly) since she was about twelve; just awhile after her father died and the meals from the kind people stopped coming in. At that point, Katniss was weak and starving, and in a desperate attempt to get food, she went into the town bakery and stole a few loaves, stuffing them under her father's large coat. Then... she happened to notice him, but he didn't call out for his parents or try to stop her from leaving... he just let her go, giving her little warning look as if to not attempt it again.

And she had never thanked him. She never thought she found the proper time to do so, even though they had almost been in the same classes for years now, and she doubted she ever would go up to him and thank him.

As if her body did it without thinking, Katniss found herself to turn around to find Peeta now walking down the street, and from even where she was standing, she could see an ugly purple mark on his face. A bruise, and she had a gut feeling that she hated... that she knew who that bruise had came from.

Feeling slightly ill, Katniss turned back around and continued her walk to school, knowing she couldn't change anything.

xxxx

"This is going to be the best year ever. I'm sure of it!" Marvel Stevens exclaimed to his two best friends as they arrived at Collins High. At their friend's enthusiasm, Cato Fielding and Glimmer Goldheart rolled their eyes. It was too early and the wrong day to be this happy, it almost unnatural... and they both thought that somehow, the horrible school year they had had last year would find a way to be topped, and they both were dreading it.

"Isn't that what you said last year too, Marvel?" Cato muttered. "And remember what happened that year? Gloss Silverwood broke my nose when we were playing basketball in PE first term, Clove Taylor booted Glimmer from the dance team because apparently she was 'too fat' to be on the team, you almost failed Year Nine, Glimmer went into anaphylactic shock after she got stung by a bee on camp and almost died... shall I go on?"

"Yeah... I will be the very first to admit that last year completely sucked... but this time, it will be different. I promise you. It has to be." Marvel persisted to his friend, just as they happened to pass a picnic table... holding some of their worst enemies. "See? The Dangerous barely even noticed us! Too busy with their own stuff... and if we shut up and try to stay as fat away from them as possible, this year will be even better."

Cato blocked out Marvel's words as he let his ice blue eyes wander over to the picnic table The Dangerous were sitting at. The Dangerous had always fascinated him. They were some of the biggest assholes he'd ever met (much like himself; he would often admit) and often wondered why he wasn't one of them, and instead was one of the ones that they enjoyed torturing. Still, he often found his eyes wandering over to them every now and then, watching their every move until one of them caught him staring, called him a freak, and then they all moved on with their lives.

The one that Cato was most fascinated by had to be the 'leader' of The Dangerous, who had to be the most popular, deadly and mean girl at Collins High. Clove Taylor. She could make a girl cry at one glance, had made three teachers resign, picked fights over the smallest things, and had a body most girls would die for upon first glancing at it for the first time. He liked to watch her tactics, what she did, how her brain worked, but it was quite difficult. Today, he watched as she took a bit of food from her bag; she probably didn't eat breakfast at home, and then a small set of kitchen scales, weighing out the food, making him raise an eyebrow.

He then watched Clove's boyfriend, Brutus Wallace, grab some of the food and throw it away into a nearby bush, making him even more confused. Fucking ass, Cato thought to himself as he watched, not even thinking about Glimmer and Marvel by this point, too busy in watching Clove and the rest of The Dangerous. The words that came out of Brutus's mouth quickly after he threw away the food, and the reactions of their group, only continued to add to his confusion.

"Can't have too much,. Clover. Wouldn't want you to end up shopping in the whale section, right?" Brutus snickered. Cato frowned. He hadn't had many girlfriends, but he was sure you wouldn't say something like that to her. The Dangerous simply snickered along with him, and quickly, Clove just threw her food away all together. In a way, he couldn't blame her. If he had had that said about him, he wouldn't be hungry any more either. His comment was totally not necessary in his head. Clove looked completely fine to him...

"Yeah... wouldn't want that." Clove mumbled back to him, her reply sounding forced and awkward. Brutus gave her a nod, as if to say 'good, smart choice' and kissed her on the cheek. For awhile, the group was quiet, but then a girl walked by, and Clove seemed to have found her first victim of the year. "Hey, Delly!" She called out. "Did you have fun seeing your family again? You know, the blue whales?" The Dangerous erupted into loud laughter.

"Must have been a family dinner. She looks even fatter." Clove's friend Cashmere snorted, adding her piece to the conversation. Cato quickly looked away. At times like this, he'd forget all the little sympathy he had for the comment Brutus made, and would have it replaced with sickness. Just as he looked away, he caught sight of a crying blur racing down into the class block. He didn't catch a proper sight of her, but he didn't have to. He knew it was Delly.

"What a fucking bitch." Cato heard Glimmer mutter, and quickly, as if he hadn't been watching the whole thing and heard Brutus's words, he quickly rushed to catch up with her. "No one wants to snuggle with a stick like Clove. Delly looks fine."

"Maybe that's why Brutus and Clove are dating. They both have no romantic bones in their bodies whatsoever." Cato smirked. Glimmer laughed softly and gave him a nod, fiddling with one of her finger less gloves, pulling it further up to cover her wrist, though he barely noticed. Glimmer looked like what would be called the stereotypical bitch, but in reality, she was pretty down to Earth. She had been friends with Marvel and Cato since primary school, and they had been inseparable ever since

"Nice one." Marvel grinned, looking up at Cato admirably, though again, the boy didn't notice. He wished he did, but he doubted it would ever happen any time soon. He had been yearning for Cato to notice him as something had more than friends for years... but he doubted it would ever come to anything. Cato was as straight as a ruler. He never dared to tell anyone about his feelings, not even trusting Glimmer. He would hate to wreck their friendship after all these years...

The loud, almost deafening sound of the Collins High bell ripped through the three, making them all groan.

"Well, here comes the real start of another shitty year. Race you to Roll Call?" Glimmer looked at her friends, and they both nodded, beginning to run through the halls and up the stairs, for a moment all forgetting about what they had been thinking about only minutes earlier.

xxxx

"The Dangerous are starting up again. Yeah, this early." Delly Cartwright whispered to her best friend Peeta as they took their seats in the library with the rest of their Year Ten group. Peeta shot her a small look as he adjusted his blue hoodie, hoping he'd be able to keep the hood up for as long as he possibly could. "Hey, is your eye okay, or is it just the shadow of your hood?" Delly added a few seconds later, sounding kind of concerned. Peeta immediately stared down at the navy blue carpet of the library, wondering what to say to her. While having an extremely kind friend like Delly was almost always nice, how concerned she got was always a downside.

"Just an accident on my part. Walked into the door this morning when I was half asleep." Peeta shrugged, trying to ignore the pain that came with it due to a bruise on his shoulder from several days before. "But... The Dangerous are starting again? I thought I got them to get off your back last year." Peeta was Collins High's 'sweet kid' in a way, both literally and sometimes personality wise, and due to the cakes he sometimes brought in, either to the Chess Club when he he felt bad about the little members they had, and to The Dangerous to bribe them for him and his friend's immunity, no one really targeted him... at school.

"I think that only counted for last year, Peeta." Delly said sadly, fiddling with one of her mustard yellow curls as she looked around the library, watching the stragglers and the 'fashionably late' group of The Dangerous come in. Immediately, a bunch of students jumped up and let them take their seats, wanting to avoid a confrontation. At this, Delly looked at Peeta and sighed. "How can they do that? Be so popular... have unspoken privileges... look so good... I'd do anything to look like her." Clove and Cashmere's words were swirling around in her head from earlier, and she now felt even worse.

"I think you look fine, Delly." Peeta said honestly, giving her a nod. Delly simply looked at him as if to say 'you are just saying that to be a nice best friend,' so he back off and stayed quiet, just as their year adviser called out for quiet so they could get started. Relieved at the distraction, Delly and Peeta moved their eyes to the front of the room, hoping like many of the years before, they'd be put in almost all of the same classes/

"Good. Now that we've gotten all quiet, we can start to distribute the timetables for this year. First off, the timetables for-" Their year adviser, Miss Trinket began to say in her creepily bubbly and annoying, especially on the first day of the school year, but was soon cut off by the sound of another voice and the quiet shutting of the Collins High library door. Lazily letting his eyes wander over to the person, they widened when he properly saw who was there.

"Sorry I'm late, Miss Trinket." The tired voice of Katniss came from the door, the apology, as almost all apologies for tardiness were when it concerned Miss Trinket (who always expected them for the reason of 'manners'), seeming forced. The tiredness definitely wasn't, though. It was evident on her face, especially as she walked further into the library how tired she was. There were dark circles and bags under her silvery grey eyes, her clothes were wrinkled and had a few rips (not the rips that had been manufactured by a factory for a designer line) in the jeans, and the braid her black hair was in was already coming out in all directions. However, she wasn't tired enough to not see Clove attempt to trip her, and in response, the grey eyed girl kicked her hard in the shin. At this, a small smile appeared on most of the students, including Peeta and Delly's faces.

"Well deserved there." Delly whispered to Peeta. While Delly was known as the nice girl of Collins High, with a kind work for everyone and would console anyone and make them feel better if it was needed, she would be lying if she said that if Clove went flying down the second floor stairs of Collins High, she wouldn't laugh and would instead try to help her up. Being bullied by Clove for all these years had now completely left her and the rest of her group out of the people that she would be kind to. After all they had done to her, the thought of having to be nice made her feel sick.

"Just go take a seat, Miss Everdeen. There's a spare one next to Mr Mellark." Miss Trinket said to the girl, and while glancing in Peeta's direction, Katniss nodded. "And Mr Mellark, please take that blue hood off." Reluctantly, letting everyone in the library see his black eye, he pushed his hood down and stared at his table, biting down on his lip as Katniss threw her bag down and sat beside him, his heart starting to race.

Peeta began to blank out Miss Trinket's high pitched voice announcing the classes for this year, almost without even realizing he would probably miss his name being called in the process. All he could truly focus on was the girl sitting next to him, her chin resting in her hands as she tiredly listened to Miss Trinket. Even tiredness looked kind of good on her, even though he'd rather it she could sleep at night even though he had no idea why she really didn't. He had known, or rather become well informed of her presence since they had been in kindergarten, but he'd never really been able to catch her attention.

Katniss had been good friends with most of the oldest students, and often played sports at lunch, while Peeta was friends with the quiet kids in his own year, and tried to make excuses to stay inside she he hated playing out there. He often watched her play games when he wasn't allowed to stay inside, and after one music lesson on a day of kindergarten, he kept the secret that he was the first boy in kindergarten to have a crush... a crush that never really went away. They had met a few years later, an encounter he hoped he would be thanked for and they could start a friendship from... but still, nothing ever came up.

Suddenly, Peeta felt himself being tapped on the shoulder... by her.

"Um... Peeta... Miss Trinket called your name five minutes ago." Katniss told him awkwardly, and before she could see his cheeks visually heat up, he got up and grabbed his bag and headed to the front, grabbing his timetable from Miss Trinket and walking over to Delly, who gave him a thumbs up. At least he'd have one real friend in his class.

"The last person in class 10M is Katniss Everdeen." Miss Trinket read off her roll, Katniss quickly standing up to grab her timetable. Peeta stared at the floor and smiled to himself. Like it had been in years past, Katniss again was in his lass, but this year, he was going to make it his goal - this year, he would change things between him and Katniss. He would try to make friends with her, or maybe even more if he could manage to get it done this year.

Soon, forgetting about anything else that was happening in the room, he was planning out a scenario in his head. Science or PE. That was it... Science or PE; he'd ask if she would partner with him and then try to start a conversation... and if all went well, he'd slip in an invitation to sit with him and Delly at lunch. If it all didn't go well? Well... then it was back to the drawing board with his plans.

"Peeta?" The blond boy was quickly snapped back to reality by the voice of Delly, his eyes flashing to hers quickly. "Are you okay? Miss Trinket said we have to head off to our first period." Peeta quickly nodded and shrugged, giving her a glance he hoped she would recognize as 'what class to we have?' "PE." Delly quickly said to him. He smile; she had remembered what the glance meant.

The two silently headed out the door with the rest of their new class, but not before Peeta heard something behind him. When he turned around, he noticed Clove there, her sharp nails digging into Katniss's wrist as she hissed harsh words in her ear.

"For what you did back there, I'm going to make sure you're dead."

xxxx

Katniss arrived to PE rubbing her wrist where Clove had dug her fingernails into, her fingers running over small flecks of dried blood. Geez, she can really leave a damn mark, Katniss thought to herself with a frown. Having noticed both the dark haired girl rubbing her wrist and the frown that had just appeared on her face, the girl she was walking with, Annie Cresta, began to scribble something down on s notepad, tapping Katniss on the shoulder once she was done and holding it up to her.

'Are you okay? You look angry over something.' Annie had written, Katniss reading the message quickly. Annie and her notepad was just the normal at Collins High. Since she was fourteen, Annie had not spoken a word, no matter all of the bribes her parents and then grandparents after her parents couldn't 'deal with her' anymore tried to give, and all of the physiologists, counselors, therapists and psychiatrists they had tried; none of them had managed to get her on the road of speaking again. No one knew the reason why Annie did not speak, and no one at school had ever asked her.

"I'm fine. Just Clove Taylor and her freakishly sharp nails." Katniss muttered, pushing the door to the change room open and letting Annie in first. Once she followed, she noticed Annie give her a nod of empathy. Annie was just yet another target of Clove and The Dangerous. The best question to ask though would be... who at school wasn't targeted by The Dangerous?

Quickly, Katniss hid herself in a corner to dress into her PE uniform. She hated the process of getting changed in front of all the other girls, and believed firmly that if the school wanted them to dress into PE uniform, they should at least have closed off spaces to do it, but rules were rules. Whipping her shirt off quickly and replacing it with her navy blue PE shirt, she heard the door to the girl's change room open again, and the conversation that soon followed made her want to be sick.

"Someone needs to install a kennel for you to dress in. None of us want to see your ugly, fat body." A girl with a high pitched voice, probably a member of The Dangerous whose name she must have blanked out a long time ago, sneered. Once Katniss was dressed in her PE uniform, she turned around to see Delly Cartwright crying as she changed in the corner, making Katniss frown. Delly was not fat, in her mind. She had a few pounds to spare, but she was not fat. Even if she was, it didn't make an excuse for the bullying.

"None of us want to hear your voice everyday, but you don't go away, and I'd rather look at Delly over hear you speak any day." Katniss accidentally blurt out, staring at the girl as she remembered her name... her stupid, stupid name. Cashmere. Stupid name for a just as stupid girl, Katniss thought angrily as she stared at Cashmere. She had to admit, she wasn't close to Delly; her kindness and happiness put her off and made her want to slam her head into a wall, but she didn't think the girl deserved all of the bullying.

"Just get out of our faces, Catpiss." Cashmere said to her with an eye roll. Katniss quickly returned it and walked out of the change room, having one thought in mind: Catpiss.. really? Could she get anymore unoriginal with her name calling? After everything that had happened to her, Katniss was pretty much a metal barrier, and she doubted that 'Catpiss' would even put so much as a dent on it.

Katniss took a seat on the newly polished floor of the gym as more people joined her as they finished changing, her surveying who was in her class for the first time; as she often did when their year adviser spoke, she blanked out. Along with her, there were the three best friends, Cato, Marvel and Glimmer, who had never really bothered her much and she'd never really interacted with, save for the few times Marvel had asked her to borrow a pen, the main asshole of The Dangerous, Brutus Wallace, the twins from hell Cashmere and Gloss, Delly as she had seen in the changing room, Annie, the unusually quiet yet still a girl magnet Finnick Odair, his hot headed friend Johanna, and she had sworn she had sadly seen Clove Taylor in the changing room, sitting on a bench, as if she was waiting for everyone else to leave before she got dressed.

"10M, may I get your attention?" The loud voice of a hard faced woman brought Katniss and the rest of the class back to reality, all eyes on her. "I will be your PE teacher for this year, and I would like you to call me Coach Lyme. Today, due to the weather, we will be starting our year with a game of indoor cricket. I will pick the team captains once everyone is out."

Katniss nodded along with the teacher's words, knowing what would happen - one boy from The Dangerous and one girl from The Dangerous would be captains, they would take turns picking their friends, and then they would take turns picking the rejects in order of who they hated least until they had one left that they said the other would be allowed to have, fighting over it until the teacher stepped in. The person left was normally either Katniss, Delly or Glimmer, and on more than one occasion had one of the girls just quit and stormed out of the gym instead, not wanting the humiliation.

Once Clove was finally out, Coach Lyme picked the captains, and as always, it wasn't any surprise who they were - Gloss and Clove. Quickly, all of The Dangerous had been picked, and just as quickly, she was left there on the bench.

When she got thrown onto Gloss's team, she swore she could see Peeta mouth 'I'm sorry.'

xxxx

Once PE was over, Annie Cresta made it her mission to get as dressed as quickly as possible and leave as quickly as possible to her next class, hoping to avoid The Dangerous, who had not yet been able to corner her this year. Ever since she had stopped speaking years ago, they had decided that she was the best possible target when they could find her, simply because of something that for her, wasn't in her control. It was easy to target the one that couldn't make as big as a scene as the one that could scream to attract attention, or yell for help, and how they took advantage of her because of that made her blood boil.

It didn't help her much that just then in PE, when it had been her turn to bat, she had accidentally hit the ball so hard that it went flying into one of the lights of the gym, successfully shattering it, and causing the game of indoor cricket to be cut short. Now she would have two people angry with her - her grandmother, after getting the bill to replace the light, and Brutus Wallace, her main tormentor, who apparently took his indoor cricket very seriously. Annie, on the other hand, hated PE. She was always one of the ones being left last for teams, she wasn't very good at it, and she often accidentally ended up hurting someone else, hurting herself, or breaking something, as she had done last PE lesson. In one very embarrassing PE lesson last year, she had accidentally given Finnick Odair a concussion when they were playing basketball. She had never lived it down.

As Annie approached the door, her cold hands touching the just as cold metal door handle to free her from the confines of the Collins High gym, she felt her shoulders being grabbed tightly and her being yanked back by a powerful force she knew too well. Brutus would leave her alone eventually, but this now was not the eventually. As the stronger boy yanked her around to face him, her looking into his cold green eyes nervously, she tried to prepare herself for what would happen. Unlike most of his other victims he bullied at school, unless you counted the grabs of the shoulders and shaking her, had never resolved into violence with her. The words he used hurt more than any of the punches she had ever saw him give anyone else in the halls, in her opinion.

"Leaving so early?" Brutus asked her in a mock polite voice, making Annie's stomach turn and her feel worse; she'd heard this all before, so why did it still make her feel so bad? "Shame. I really, really loved that hit you did. Would you like to participate in an experiment? It would be interesting to see if your teeth shatter as good as that light did, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it?" Her sea green eyes widened; would he really hit her? He only ever got in fights with the boys, to her knowledge. Brutus then let out a fake gasp. "Oh wait... silly me! You can't answer me, because you're a mute psycho!"

As soon as the words had left his lips, Annie really did feel like he had shattered her teeth. Even though he had said some horrible things, some horrible, horrible things about her, he had never gone as low as he had just done by saying that. Tears prickled in her eyes, though she tried to hold them back. Crying in front of Brutus would just make it worse, it would make him feel like he really had won this... she couldn't cry in front of him. That's what the girl's bathrooms were for, unless Clove was in there applying her make up or fixing herself up.

The sixteen year old suddenly heard a low whistle behind her, confusing her greatly, but the confusion was only just beginning. Soon, as she had been yanked forward by Brutus, she felt Brutus himself be yanked off her. Her eyebrows raised. Was someone actually standing up for her? No... it couldn't be. No one ever stood up for her. If someone saw what was happening, depending on where they stood in their year group, they would just shoot her a smug smile as Brutus continued to push her around, or a pitying look as they walked the halls, not doing anything to get it to stop; never, ever standing up for her.

"Wow. That was low, even for you, Brutus." A smooth, sarcastic voice registered in the girl's ears, a voice she had only really distinctly heard once before, and immediately, she cringed though still confused. The voice belonged to the boy she had slammed in the head with a bright orange basketball in term three of Year Nine and got sent to hospital... Finnick. Annie stared at the floor, wondering if she should go. It couldn't be right... why would Finnick be standing up for her? He had never made it clear that he didn't like her, but any interaction they had had since the 'basketball incident' had always been awkward.

"It's not like she doesn't know it already." Brutus let out a light chuckle as he shoved Finnick away. "She should know her place here. The only place she would really belong would be an insane asylum. She'd be where she belongs." Again, the words made Annie feel even worse and she knew she should leave while she could, but if it turned out in her favour, she wanted to try and thank him... or, if it ended in a fight that went even more wrong, help him by escorting him up to the nurse's office.

"You're the sick freak here." Finnick muttered, and before Annie knew what was going on, Brutus's fist had met Finnick's face, Finnick had tackled him to the floor, and now the two were fighting.. all thanks to her. As they fought, Annie watched on with wide eyes, occasionally jumping back towards the door, though she still couldn't bring herself to leave. Her hands shook as she held her notepad, wondering if she was making the wrong decision. Maybe Finnick was just doing it because they were blocking the door? Why would anyone start standing up for her now? Would this new year really be different?

The boys stayed on the ground for what she thought was forever, Annie's eyes locked on them, until a loud voice rung around the gym, followed by the sound of running footsteps.

"Brutus!" Clove shouted, shouting in a voice so loud Annie wouldn't expect it from the girl. Brutus completely ignored the girl, and focused his attention on dodging a punch Finnick had aimed at his jaw. The dark haired girl breathed deeply, and yelled s loud Annie almost jumped straight through the roof; loud rooms, especially when unexpected, often got to her. "BRUTUS! Let. Go. Of. Finnick. Now."

Reluctantly, Brutus got up, arms crossed, and made his way over to Clove, Annie's eyes going to them for a moment. She noticed that his hands locked around her wrists in what looked like a tight grip, and he was whispering something that she had a strange feeling wasn't very nice in her ear as he dragged her out the other door, Annie just remembering it was there. Knowing it was none of her business, her eyes went to Finnick quickly. Maybe he really did want to stand up for her, as strange as it sounded to her...

Upon seeing the blood flowing from his nose and the forming of a black eye and bruises on his jaw, Annie panicked and quickly scribbled down a note. It wasn't as if she didn't want to speak.. it was just as if she couldn't do it. Speaking was likened to throwing up in her mind, and the fear of it kept her continuing to write instead. She had been strung along to countless people to 'help,' but they couldn't exactly do anything with her letters full of lies. No one knew the truth... and she was sure she would keep it that way.

'Thank you for standing up for me...' Annie first wrote, her words rushed and scribbled due to her increasing nerves. 'Do you need me to help you to the nurse's office?'

Finnick quickly stood up, reading all the words on the white page intently before giving his response, "No, it's fine... and it's okay. I hate him. I hate all of them, no one deserves to be treated like that." Annie gave a small, understanding nod. "You're Annie, right?"

'Yes. We... met last year in this very gym.' Annie wrote back, chewing on her lower lip as she watched Finnick read the message. His response surprised her... he actually laughed.

"I remember that day. Awful concussion, but it's fine now." She watched him slimg his bag over his shoulder, trying to hide his wince. The warning bell rang across the gym, making her grab the doorhandle again. "Guess we better go. Want to walk to class woth me?"

Annie nodded, though still slightly confused. It was nice to have someone to walk woth her, but she just hoped that he wasn't just doing it out of pity. Too many people pitied her, and she hated it. She took a seat in the back of the room, glancing over at Finnick, who shot her a smile that managed to send her nervous thoughts away. Maybe this year would be different...

xxxx

When brought back up again, Clove had discovered that apple and cinnamon muffin actually tasted a lot like filthy coins. Once she was sure it was gone, the girl slowly removed her fingers from the back of her throat and stood back up, quickly flushing the remnants of the muffin away. In a way, the girl's bathroom, as much as it brought back horrible memories and the such... and was a germ filled bathroom, was better than the grounds outside. Outside was the canteen, and today, the lady had decided to make so,e of her home made cookies and sell them there too. The cookies. Those damn cookies. She could eat a whole fucking box of those cookies and then end up back here second break. They even had to be her favourite, chocolate chip. But they would make her gag. She didn't need-

"Are you done in there?" Cashmere's quiet, yet concerned voice that only appeared during these bathroom moments asked, knocking lightly on the black bathroom door. These moments were the one thing they did share. Some best friends share hair ties, others share stories and wait outside while they wait for the other to get rid of the muffin they shouldn't have eaten.

"Yes." Clove answered quietly. Seconds later, the door of the bathroom flew open revealing her as she rushed to the sink, quickly starting to wash her hands. Cashmere's words floated behind her, the rushing sound of the water unable to block them out. The taste in her mouth was awful, but it was normal now, as was everything that she did, that others would find stupid or dangerous, sad or pathetic. It was just normal, no matter what the books said or the PE teacher tried to tell. It wouldn't hurt. Just for a few months...

"Do you feel better now that it's over?" Cashmere questioned, her voice still soft as she raked her hands through her dark hair, wiping the sweat from her forehead. If anyone would do this usually, they would get their hands almost literally ripped off, but now, in the bathroom, it was different, until they got back outside again. Where the cookies would be waiting.

200 calories... no, more than, for one cookie. And the box would be gone in ten minutes. There were about fifteen cookies in every box, so-

"Clove?" Cashmere asked again, tying the girl's hair up in a ponytail carefully, her other hand fishing a gum packet from her pocket. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Clove quickly answered, drying her hands on her black jeans. Cashmere passed her a square of gum, and guiltily, she popped it in her mouth as she picked up her bag, promising herself that when they went outside, she wouldn't get the cookies. She couldn't. She didn't need a cookie. She didn't need the entire box. But she wanted them, even if she would be sick. All promises had to end up empty at some time..

Cashmere quietly took her outside again, beginning the walk back to their table. Clove panicked inside. Had they taken too long? Would they somehow suspect what had happened in there? Had they caught on ages ago and just not said anything, but would suddenly come out with it today because of reasons unknown and-

She needed that box of cookies. Damn stupid motherfucking cookies.

And before she knew it, she was in the bathroom again, curled up in the corner of a stall, the crinkling of the box her only company. The cookies would be gone soon, but she still hated herself, still reaching for the chocolate chip. The sweetness turned to sour, then to the taste of sawdust, and she hated them. She hated them, but she couldn't stop.

Pathetic weakling. This is the girl they think of in the halls? The one they want to be? The one they think is perfect? She thought to herself, continuing to chew. It'll be fine in a little while...

There on the tiled, white bathroom floor, Clove had never, ever felt worse about herself.

xxxx


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: To the Guests - I have been joining up certain chapters to make them longer, and I decided to repost it.**

**Thank you to those who have reviewed, favorited and followed. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and reviews are always appreciated. **

Chapter Two

For Peeta, school was a safer place than home, but he kept that his biggest secret. Now, he was in sixth period Art, sitting on a plastic red chair as he watched the paint splattered clock above the door, but instead of with anticipation like the other kids, it was because of dread. He would be going home to a devil. No, he didn't live with a creature that breathed fire or had horns or could destroy things with a single glance... his devil was a simply, yet scary one: his own mother, the person he thought should be one of the ones to love him the most. It had only gotten worse since his two older brothers went off to university and his father filed for divorce any moved to another state, but he thought, as hard as it go, he could hold out. He was in Year Ten now.. only this year and then Year Eleven and Year Twelve to go, then he could go wherever he wished. He could do it... he was sure of it.

The sound of the bell brought him back to reality, it ripping through his ears and punching him in the stomach. He let all the other kids leave before he did; he could get away with it without it looking suspicious simply because of his 'oh that's the nice boy Peeta' reputation, and then slowly began the walk out to the gates. Sometimes, he would ask his Art teacher if he could help clean up, but today they had done theory work and last time he had stayed late cleaning, he woke up on the floor of the bathroom, having slept in his own blood as a result of a beating, so that was out now.

Once he got to the dark green gates of the school, Peeta slowed down a little bit more, just watching all of the students walk by. As he was knocked around by the crowd, he didn't care; it'd been worse before. When he finally forced himself to walk out to begin the walk back home, he noticed Delly give him a wave from the bus stop, making him think back to lunch. Delly had invited him to hang out after school, but of course, he had to make some excuse for why he couldn't go. It made him feel terrible. Other than him and her little brother Jared, Delly had no friends, and due to the constant bullying of The Dangerous, she didn't have a very good chance of making any new ones.

Each step home felt like he was climbing a mountain, as if he was climbing the mountain that lead to hell. What mood would his mother be in today? He could no longer expect anything anymore. Sometimes, she was too drunk to really to anything, other times she was still drunk enough to find something to 'talk' to him about, other times she was furious after his father or brothers had called, and there were many other scenarios he had come home to before as well. Before, she used to have the family bakery to tend to which kept her busy, but his father shut it down after the divorce, leaving her at home and most of the time, extremely angry.

When he got onto his street, he couldn't help but look around to see if Katniss was around, not that it would help anything. He was already worried enough that he had taken too long on the walk home. No, no Katniss anywhere. Turning his head away, Peeta focused on his hone and climbed up the now always empty driveway, up the rickety wooden stairs to his porch, took his keys from the pocket of his brown pants, and slowly opened the door. At the awful creaking sound the door made, he immediately cringed. After that came the sound of footsteps. Boots. Boots that had kicked him numerous times in numerous places.

"You're home." Her voice was cold and unforgiving. She didn't even fake that she was happy to see him. Nervously, Peeta nodded and stepped forward, slowly shutting the front door. "Took you long enough." Slowly, Peeta placed his bag down on the floor by one of the living room's worn armchairs, then forced himself to take a few more steps forward, his eyes flickering to his mother's and then onto the floor that was just as cold as her.

"Sorry, mother." Peeta eventually said to the woman in return, trying to keep his voice clear, firm and calm. Mumbling never solved anything. It only made it worse and her even angrier. "Do you need me to do anything for you?" This was a common question after returning from school. At first, he had started asking to be polite and hopefully make his mother happier with him, but when it changed nothing, she just expected him to ask.

"Polite of you to ask." His mother said to him roughly, grabbing her worn black wallet from the pocket of her pants. At the sight of the wallet, Peeta was relieved; it meant, even with strict rules, he would be able to get out of the house for a little bit longer. "I managed to get your brothers to come down for dinner tomorrow, and I need some ingredients. I have the list with the money. Hopefully you won't fuck it up." She held a hand out.

"I won't, mother." Peeta said quietly, knowing there was no point in taking offense to her words anymore. He took the money from her hands, the shopping list wrapped around it, and placed it in his own pocket.

"And remember my rules for when I let you go grocery shopping, remember? You will go to the corner store and only the corner store, you won't run off anywhere, and you won't spend a million years in the store just so you can try to avoid me." At the last point, Peeta looked down, knowing she must have finally decided to voice that she had caught on.

"Yes, mother, I understand. I'll be as quick as I can." Peeta nodded and slowly went to the door, not wanting his mother to think that he was leaving too quickly. Once he pushed open the door, he heard a faint whisper behind him, and while usual, still made his blood run cold: if he did break one of her rules, she would find out... she had her ways of knowing these things.

As soon as he was back down the driveway, Peeta felt calmer, breathing in the fresh air as the voice in the back of his mind nagged him to keep going along. He was a fan of being outside, and missed days where he could walk around the park or sit down on a wooden bench and do sketches of the plants, but it didn't seem like those days would be returning to him anytime soon. He hated being shut up all day, whether being at school or at home... and he knew it would be especially bad tomorrow. The dinner. The stupid, stupid dinner. As bad as he knew the thought was, he thought his mother had just gotten his brothers down to spite him; show him the two people, the two sons she really loved, and how they had done absolutely nothing to attempt to protect their brother.

Another thought entered his mind. Today was a Thursday... for some stupid reason, the school year had to start on a Thursday, and since tomorrow was Friday, she may even invite them to stay overnight, which would be ever worse. A horrible feeling filled his head and his stomach. Weekends already were awful, and if that happened, it would end up making it even more horrible.

Trying to forget about the idea of his brothers potentially staying over after tomorrow's dreadful dinner, Peeta eyed the corner shop in the distance, able to recognize it's pastel blue painted roof from anywhere. The look of the corner shop also filled him with slight sadness, as the bakery always used to be by there, but he knew he had to just accept it. The bakery, which had been one of his only sources of happiness in his world, was gone, erased just like the presence of his father had been.

A part of him hated his father too, for not taking him in even when he knew everything that was going on... but Peeta wasn't capable of fully hating someone. Not even his mother. Not even the kids at school that bullied Delly and the rest of the 'freaks' that littered the halls. He had just learned to live with it. It won't matter once I finish Year Twelve and get out of here. You can hang on for three more years... Peeta often thought to himself.

The corner shop smelled like a mix of stew and coffee, which actually wasn't as bad as you may think it would be. For a moment even, the blue eyed boy stood in the front entrance of the shop and just breathed in the scent of the shop, before remembering the job he had to do... and quickly, and starting to head down the aisles of the store, quickly checking the list. First item: a carton of eggs. Check. Second item: A net of oranges. Check. Third item: Two cans of creamed corn. Pending.

As he went down the aisle where the cans were, Peeta somehow managed to miss the yellow wet floor sign and successfully tripped over it... landing right into the girl stacking the shelves with more cans, the two falling on top of each other with two loud grunts of annoyance.

Once recovering quickly from the fall, Peeta got up and went to sheepishly apologize to the worker, but as he studied the worker on the floor, slathered in egg, canned peas, baked beans, and many other things to make a gross mixture, he realized he had actually bumped into Katniss Everdeen... and now may have potentially gotten her fired.

"Oh... Katniss..." Peeta simply mumbled, still in pure shock. He had been here so many times, and not once before had he noticed that she actually worked here... and now that he had, he just had to do this. "I-I'm sorry... I guess I just spaced out, I completely missed that wet floor sign and-" As she struggled to get up, Katniss cut him off, just as he realized that he was beginning to ramble.

"It's fine. It's fine." Katniss snapped, it obvious that things obviously were not fine, and that if the boss found this scene, she'd probably be gone. "Just let me clean up. If Mr. Snow sees this, I'm gone."

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Peeta accidentally blurted out. His answer came in the form of a cold glare. As soon as he looked into her silvery grey eyes, he swore she was attempting to freeze him to death. 'O-okay, Katniss. I guess I'll see you at school, and again, I'm sorry." Peeta said softly as he walked away, getting no response from the girl. Just as he was about to turn out of the aisle, he heard a voice behind him which he knew mustn't have meant anything good.

"Miss Everdeen... can you come to my office?"

xxxx

"Miss Everdeen... can you come to my office?"

Mr Snow had discovered the mess, and rather quickly. As soon as Katniss heard those words, she tensed up. A part of her knew he would be coming, one way or another; a customer would complain about the mess or he would have heard the crash, and judging by how quick he had come, she was sure that it was the latter. As she followed Mr Snow to his office, she was tempted to ask if he could just fire her here so she could collect her things and go home to get all of the food off herself, but she knew it wouldn't be wise. Katniss knew this would end with her being fired. It had to. Mr Snow had always hated her, and now, since stupid Peeta Mellark had to bump into her today, he would finally have a valid reason to fire her.

When she entered her boss' office, she didn't sit down, not wanting to make it worse for dirtying one of the man's chairs. In a way, though, she was happy she was covered in all this food for just one reason - the disgusting stench of the food blocked out the smell of the white roses that covered Mr Snow's office. Forcing back a sigh, the dark haired girl trained her eyes on what she was sure would soon be her former boss, watching him take out her folder as he started to speak.

"Well, Miss Everdeen, you certainly have many comments on your record." Mr Snow began. Katniss clenched her fists. This is how all the meetings went - recounting all her last mistakes. "Let's see... arrived late for two weeks straight.." Katniss could remember that time. Prim's stupid cat, Buttercup, was sick and since Prim at that point got out later since she was in primary school, Katniss had to give him his medication, and it was quite an ordeal. "Last year, you often arrived with gum in your hair.." Again, Katniss could remember that. Gloss Silverwood had decided to make a habit of chewing gum in class... to stick in her hair. "And you almost ran over a small child with a shopping trolley." That had been an accident. The kid had just jumped out right in front of her!

"Sir... am I being fired?" Katniss asked as soon as he stopped talking. Mr Snow looked at her, fiddling with the white rose that was clipped to the pocket of his blood red shirt, and then gave a nod he pretended was solemn. At the action, Katniss brushed a pea out of her hair and walked to the door. "I'll go clean out my locker."

Without another word, Katniss walked out of Mr Snow's office and into the staff room, ignoring the eyes of the other workers in there that were on their break. She knew very well that in her food cover uniform she looked like a complete spectacle, and now that she had just been fired, she just wanted to get home, have a shower and look for another job while trying to keep her mind from wandering to the thought of killing Peeta Mellark at school tomorrow. While she had feelings that were less than kind about her boss, at least at that point, she could pay the bills and that was all that mattered. Now, thanks to Peeta accidentally bumping into her at the supermarket, she had nothing, and she couldn't keep it that way for too long... or she and her family literally would have nothing.

As she walked home, Katniss dragged her school bag behind her, feeling as if it weighed one hundred pounds. What was she supposed to do when she got home? Of course, her mother wouldn't give a damn, her all off in her own world, but what about Prim, the one she felt like she truly disappointed today... how would she take the news that she had been fired? When she finally reached home, the weight that had seemed to become attached to her bag had now cloned itself and now had entered in her stomach, and for a minute, she just stood in front of the door, not even mustering the courage to take out her keys and unlock the door.

Disappointment. Idiot. Stupid. Lazy. The words swirled around her mind as she finally opened the door. Then, her thoughts of self loathing turned to Peeta... it was all his fault that she had lost her job today. At that moment, as she walked inside to her living room nervously, she was glad she didn't own a bow and arrow, or she was sure she would be taking it to school the next day, her target being the blond boy. Yes, it had been an accident... but she had a depressed mother, a little sister and (begrudgingly) the world's ugliest cat to feed, as well as herself. She couldn't afford the firing, but never in a million years would she beg Mr Snow for her job back.

"You're home early Kat-" Prim began as soon as she saw her older sister, looking up from the brush she was putting through their mother's hair. Katniss managed to notice that their mother was sewing. Sewing. At least it was something, but not much... or at least, not much of use. "Oh. Are you okay?"

"Not really..." Katniss mumbled with a soft sigh, trying to keep her tone calm. It wasn't her fault that she had gotten fired today. "First, I got tripped accidentally and ended up covered in food... and then, Mr Snow fired me." Prim looked at her, and instead of the disappointment that she anticipated, her sister got up, and even though she was covered in food, she gave her a small, awkward hug.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. It's his loss." Prim's small smile gave her hope. "I'll go make dinner. Is beans on toast okay?" Personally, Katniss never wanted to see baked beans again, but after many years of not knowing whether or not she would eat that night, she had stopped judging food.

"Yeah. It's fine. I'll be out for dinner in a moment." Katniss smiled tiredly and headed off to the bathroom.

xxxx

Clove stared at herself in the mirror, her hands on her stomach, her fingers pinching the fat that was barely there, but bothered her all the same. She had to get rid of it, and soon. A slight bit of panic filled her. Had she forgetten to get rid of those cookies in the bathroom at school today? Those stupid, stupid cookies she just had to have... and for no reason at all. Wait... yes, she did. She could remember a faint memory of a mouth filled with puke and salt from her tears, a horrible combination she had just learned to get used to over these past few months. I don't purge all the time, she thought to herself. It won't hurt me. If I try to just not eat, I won't have to.

Unfortunately, that would be out of the question tonight. In all their wisdom, after finding out that his parents were barely ever at home, her parents had invited Brutus over for dinner, and she wasn't looking forward at all. Steak. Big, fat, juicy steak, with roast potatoes on the side. Why did it have to be that of all things? She grabbed her dress that her mother had asked her to wear tonight, a white number with red stripes and slowly slipped it on, feeling slightly queasy at the thought of the steak that would be waiting for her tonight.

At that moment, as she was putting on the red flats to accompany her dress, she heard a knock at her bedroom door, followed by a voice. "Guess who?" The deep, normally cold voice took on a slightly playful tone, leaving her confused, but then she remembered. Oh. Brutus had to act like a nice boyfriend tonight, her parents were here. Taking a deep breath, Clove got up off her bed.

"It's unlocked. Come on in." Clove forced herself to call back. Seconds later, the door pushed open, revealing Brutus, who actually looked quite handsome dressed in his suit and tie, even to Clove. "Hey..." She mumbled. Even at the very sight of Brutus, she began to feel kind of insecure. His comments were burned into her brain. Sometimes, they even came back when he wasn't around. It had just been like that for long... way too long, in her eyes.

"Wow. You managed to wear something that didn't make you look as enormous for once." Brutus said coldly, sitting Clove back down on her bed, him sitting beside her. She sighed softly, staring at her grey carpet. Her parents would be too busy in the kitchen to even try and pay notice to what was going on upstairs. "Actually, this is the first time in a long time I've actually found you kind of hot."

Seconds later, Clove felt a cold hand moving up her thigh, her body tensing. Before she could respond, she felt his lips on hers, and every time she kissed back, simply because she knew what would happen if she didn't the hand moved higher and higher, disappearing under her red and white dress, only making her feel even more tense. It had been happening for over three months now - Brutus had been pushing her to lose her virginity to him, and so far, she had managed to distract him, but lately, he was getting more and more impatient. She didn't want it with him, especially not for her first. Sometimes, she even wondered if she'd have a choice.

His hand faintly touched her underwear as he whispered to her, laying them down, "You're so fucking sexy when you dress nice, you know that, right?" Before she could even manage an answer, his lips were back on hers again, making her start to feel sick again. This continued, his hand moving higher, until she heard a voice from downstairs that meant for now, she was safe.

"Clove, Brutus, dinner is ready!" Her mother called. Food wasn't the safety net she wanted, but it was better than letting Brutus touch her... just a tiny bit better, though. At the words, Brutus let her go after giving her another rough kiss, her quickly trying to straighten herself up.

"Damn. This always happens. Maybe we'll have some luck at the party tomorrow night?" Brutus whispered coarsely as they headed to the door.

At the words, Clove almost stopped dead in her tracks. Friday night. Tomorrow. The annual 'welcome to a new year' party her year held. Wrapping her arms around herself, she headed down the stairs, trying not to think about how horrible tomorrow could end up being..

xxxx


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to those who have followed, favourited and reviewed so far. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and reviews are always appreciated; they make my day. **

**A M4D TE4 P4RTY - I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and I'm glad you like the characterization so far; I constantly worry that I'm straying too far from book personalities in this AU. My favourite to write is probably Clove, since even though it's a bit cliche, I like the 'mean girl with more underneath' plot. Anyway, your review made my day and thank you so much for leaving it. **

**Also, just one more thing, while I did put this in a warning in the first chapter, I will warn that this chapter involves date rape, and while it is not explicit, it's still there. Just a trigger warning if you would rather not read on. **

Chapter Three

Though not many people would suspect it from her, Clove absolutely hated parties, both the act of hosting one, and the act of having to go to one, like the 'welcome back to a new year' party that was being hosted at Gloss and Cashmere's tonight. Parties, for Clove, were all about planning out every action. When she drank, she had to get just drunk enough to show that she was apparently enjoying herself, but not enough to embarrass herself and have undesirable rumors floating around the school once school returned, she had to find some excuse for mostly sitting on the stairs or on a random couch or something because she didn't want to do anything she considered would embarrass her (example: dancing), and to get out of whatever empty room Brutus lead them int before he could shut the door and attempt to unzip her dress, the event that kept her on guard almost all the time.

So far, tonight's party had actually been what Clove would call one of the least awful in her standards. She had managed to make it look like she was on her fifth beer when really she was just starting off her third, Cashmere and Enobaria and been sitting and talking with her for about half an hour now which meant no one had asked her to dance with them, and because her friends were also a very good distraction from Brutus, he hadn't been able to lead her anywhere tonight... until she felt a hand on her free hand, lightly tugging it and attracting her attention quickly.

"Do you want to get some fresh air with me for awhile?" Brutus asked her, his voice in the 'nice boyfriend mode,' the name Clove gave to the tone he used around her parents, strangers and friends, the tone he used to let everyone know that their relationship was completely healthy and fine... well, when they were all around, at least. Even the words 'do you want to get some fresh air for awhile' were a kind of code as well for - 'i just want an excuse to get away from our friends and attempt to fuck you.' Wanting to avoid what she hoped she could keep on avoiding, Clove immediately froze up before eventually blurting out the first excuse she could think of.

"I... I um... have to go to the bathroom." Clove lied quickly, immediately realizing that she had used the most dumbest lie in the book by accident, not that she could take it back now. She watched Brutus's face quickly, and noticed while he gave her a small frown and eye roll, he nodded and dropped her hand, looking very reluctant to do so. She took a sip of her beer before getting up, then held it out for him. "Can you hold my beer for me while I'm in there?"

"Of course." Brutus nodded, and gave her a kiss on the cheek, the display of affection that went with the 'we're a perfectly normal, healthy couple and it is all find with us' act he put on. The kiss, even though it was just on her cheek and yesterday he had pretty much attacked her with kisses, still made her want to gag. Brutus, no matter what, could never redeem himself for everything he'd done, not after all of the scratches, slaps, the punches, the pressure... all things hidden from the eyes of their friends, who, much to Clove's absolute dismay, thought they could even pass as a 'cute couple.'

Once he was sure Clove had disappeared right through the crowd and to the bathroom where he suspected she would be hiding for at least ten minutes, he made an excuse to the group that he really did want to go outside for awhile, and once they gave him a nod, he disappeared too, just becoming one part of a crowd in a form of people, quickly pushing through to try and get away, until he came to the stairs, which, since Clove wasn't in her usual party spot, sitting awkwardly on them while taking small sips of beer, was empty.

Looking around to make sure he wasn't somehow going to be noticed by the large groups drinking and dancing and nodding a little to himself once he got an all clear, Brutus fumbled around in the pocket of his brown jacket, hoping what he needed hadn't accidentally dropped out onto the floor while he was making the rounds around the party, and after what felt like a small eternity, he pulled a single pill from his pocket, slowly looked around once more, and then sank the pill into the beer bottle, watching it's decent carefully.

"Someone's going to get lucky tonight." Brutus whispered to himself, just loud enough for him to hear, as he made his way back through the crowd and to Enobaria, Cashmere, and now Clove, making sure to get his act back on as fast as he could. The girls couldn't get suspicious... not that Brutus himself thought they had enough brain cells even combined to connect the dots. "Here's your beer, babe." Brutus said, passing the beer back to Clove.

"Thank you." Clove replied quietly, wrapping her hand around the bottle. She took a long sip before turning back to the conversation, unaware that it had been tampered with.

"I'm just gonna see if I can find Gloss and Thresh, but I'll be back later, okay?" Brutus stood up, making Clove reasonably confused. He'd forgotten about 'getting some fresh air' very quickly, but she dismissed the thought eventually, deciding she shouldn't worry about it. She nodded and forced herself to wave goodbye to Brutus as he left, very relieved to see him go.

Brutus took a seat outside, pretending to be interested in the conversations and music while every now and then peering down at his watch, waiting for about an hour to pass by, hoping there would be some changes.

xxxx

On the other side of the party, absolutely oblivious to what was going on with Brutus and what was happening to Clove, was Annie Cresta, sitting awkwardly on a couch in the living room with a drink in her hand she had only touched once, surrounded by kissing couples that made her feel even more lonely than she already was. She didn't even want to come to the party tonight, but once she had accidentally let it slip that there was a party her whole year was invited to on tonight to her grandmother, she had made Annie go, and now here she was, wishing that the ground would swallow her up whole.

She took another sip from her drink, but quickly placed the cup on the coffee table, hating the taste of the throat burning liquid even more than she had hated her very first sip of it. Trying to stop herself from coughing, she also thought of what the time had been last time she had checked the clock, which had only been about three minutes ago: ten forty five... and her grandmother said that she had to stay out into at leas the eleven thirty range. If attending parties filled with hormonal teenagers on the verge of having sex then and there on the couch and drunken idiots meant that she was a 'normal teenager,' Annie was for once happy that staying at home as she had planned didn't mean she was normal. What was the point of a mute girl attending a party, anyway? She couldn't wait for the party to be over and done with.

"Annie?" A deep, smooth voice, the type of voice that was associated with 'handsome,' alerted her attention immediately, the own of that voice sitting down beside her on the couch. Upon looking at him for the first time, she actually smiled. For the first time this night, she had recognized someone... a someone that she knew, on Monday, wouldn't be back to bullying her and torturing her. The boy that stood up to her when Brutus was harassing her on the first day o school in the gym... Finnick. Quickly, she fumbled for her notepad.

'Hi, Finnick. It's nice to see you.' Annie wrote, hoping that as he looked, he was actually reasonably sober and could actually read her writing. She noticed a smile appear on his face as he read it.

Finnick had first noticed the silent girl with the reddish brown hair last year - namely after he had been slammed in the head with a bright orange basketball and gotten a concussion, but the last thing he can remember before passing out on the stretcher was seeing her sobbing, looking really guilty. In fact, when he got back to Collns High, he wasn't even really angry at her, in fact, he always wanted to find her and tell her it was okay, but once he saw her, she was normally gone, until yesterday, when he finally got to speak to her after the incident with Brutus. He wanted to know her better. He wanted to know what she liked to do, what made her smile, what made her laugh, why she didn't speak... but he didn't feel like he could start asking now. He didn't want to offend her and ruin his chances of getting to know her. He was a now kind of former ladies' man, so it should have been easy... but making friends didn't exactly really come under his job description.

"It's nice to see you too. I didn't really take you to be one of the party scene, actually." Finnick shrugged, taking a sip from the mug in his hand. Coffee. Must be driving tonight, Annie thought as she wrote out her response. No matter why he wasn't drinking, she was happy to find someone who wasn't drinking either. "Did you come with anyone?"

'I'm not a big party fan... I guess my grandmother forced me to go.' As soon as Annie wrote that, she felt extremely embarrassed, but it was in marker, so she couldn't exactly erase it. 'It's just me. Did you come with anyone?' She noticed Finnick himself actually look a little embarrassed after she had held that up. Again, she was happy that she wasn't the only one.

"Yeah... I came with my friend Johanna. See the girl up there?" Finnick bit his lip, pointing a girl that was dancing on top of the dining room table, in a bright purple skirt as people cheered her on drunkenly. "Yeah. Johanna doesn't really care what people think about her." At the sight of Johanna on the table, Annie actually laughed for the first time in ages. Finnick smiled. Her laugh was actually quite beautiful...

'Wow. I could never do that.' Annie answered, holding up the note with a smile still on her soft lips. Finnick smiled back at her, enjoying the sight of her smile, and took a long sip of his coffee, putting it down on the table once he was finished, an idea in his mind. He slowly stood up, holding a hand out for her. Once he saw her confused look, he spoke again.

"How about we go and dance too?" Finnick said with a grin, the type of grin that Annie, the shy Annie that hardly ever danced, couldn't turn down at all. She nodded and let him lead her through the crowd, and once they began to dance, not caring about how stupid or crazy they may look, Annie was finding out that the party wasn't actually as bad as she thought it would all be...

xxxx

"Baria... do you think she's alright?" Cashmere quietly asked her other best friend, making a light gesture to Clove, whose eyes seemed to be close to shutting as she leaned on the blonde girl's shoulder. "I know she told us that she's on her sixth beer, but I swear I've only seen her have three." She gestured to the bottle by Clove's feet that was now empty; the bottle that Brutus had slipped the pill into. "You don't think anything's happened to her?"

"Nah. You know Clove, she's probably had more than six and is just trying to trick us. She said she was really tired at school today to, so that will play into it." Enobaria muttered with a shrug as she sipped from her own beer; now on number three herself. "Brutus should take her home or something, but she was planning to sleep here, so..." Enobaria looked around, finding Brutus in the crowd with ease, and quickly called to him. "Brutus! I think your girlfriend is pretty fucking wasted!"

Immediately, her words caught Brutus's attention, and he excused the two guys he was talking to before walking over at what he hoped was a normal pace, his green eyes quickly studying Clove, her eyes fluttering shut. She was out of it. Completely out of it, and it had only been about an hour and a half. Trying to at least act concerned for her, Brutus put on a look he hoped would appear concerned 'enough' and reached to take Clove into her arms, the girl not moving an inch. Her body was still, other than the fact that every few minutes, she shook for a little while, which added to Cashmere's concern and confusion.

"Must have hit the booze too hard tonight, for once." Brutus said, hoping that neither girl was suspicious. "I'll just take her to rest. You said that she was gonna stay over to help you clean over tomorrow morning, right?" Cashmere nodded, and after mumbling a quick goodbye, began to head up the stairs, a feeling she didn't really like continuing to sit with Cashmere, but she didn't move. Brutus was Clove's boyfriend. She would be fine. She would be safe, she kept on trying to tell herself, reaching for another bottle to give herself a distraction.

Up the stairs, oblivious to Cashmere's faint suspicions and feelings, Brutus quietly walked around the second floor of the Silverwood home, and once he reached what looked like the only unoccupied bedroom, Cashmere's, he pushed open the door and laid Clove down on the soft bed, her not even stirring once for a single moment. As he locked the door, hoping no one would attempt to disturb him, he fiddled with his belt, watching the unconscious girl lie still on the bed in the mirror. He approached her again, holding her carefully as if she was a porcelain doll, and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the soft, grey carpet below...

xxxx

The next morning after the party, Clove awoke naked, dizzy and a slight bit disoriented. Trying to ignore the pain that greeted her as she slid herself up to a sitting position in bed, she pulled the covers up to cover her chest area and let her eyes swerve across the room. Her mind faintly registered little details that would make her recognize whose room she was in if she felt any more alert, but her wake up call only really came when she saw a little pile on the floor. A black bra, with matching underwear lay on top, the underwear slightly ripped. A black and red dress... her clothes. Her eyes widened once she saw something she hadn't been wearing last night. A brown and gold belt. After a few minutes of thinking, she figured out the owner: Brutus. The dots were connecting in her mind, and it wasn't a good connection.

Suddenly, the door swung open, making Clove jump and her pull the covers further up her body. She tensed when she saw a single foot in the door, but once a soft, yet tired face; Cashmere's, peeked into the room, she relaxed, though only a little. The sight of her ripped underwear on the ground had gotten her alert again; her mind working at a hundred miles an hour, trying to come up with something, anything to change the outcome as she looked at her friend's face. Her eyes swerved around the room- Cashmere's room, she had now recognized, and once her crystal blue eyes focused on the clothes, she gasped. Clove stared at the scratchy blanket that covered her. Had she figured out something too?

"Oh my God, Clove! Did you and Brutus finally do it last night?!" Cashmere squealed, making Clove's head explode with even more pain. How could Cashmere be so happy, especially in the early morning of a Saturday? She turned her attention to her best friend's question.. she did not share the same suspicions, but she knew better than to voice them to Cashmere. She'd never believe her, and there were some secrets that she had to keep to herself.

"I... I guess so." Clove simply murmured in response, trying not to let the pain show through her voice, though when Cashmere squealed again she couldn't help but let out a wince. Really, how did she do it? "But.. can I just go get cleaned up... please?" She added a few minutes later, her questioning soft, unable to manage much more. She was terrified about what she would find when she got out of bed, but she wanted to wash Brutus off her, even though she knew that he would never really leave her after all of this.

"Okay. Do you want pancakes when you come down? Baria's still over too, by the way." Cashmere told her as she pressed a hand to the cool doorknob. At the word pancakes, Clove almost threw up on the sheets. No. No matter how awful this day, her life, had now become in this moment, she was not going to make it somehow even worse by breaking her rules, or by binging. Pancakes. Syrup. Butter. Waste. Her body, after this long, would probably attempt to reject them anyway.

"I'm not hungry." Clove replied, watching Cashmere leave. Once she was sure Cashmere wouldn't be back for whatever reason, she slowly swung herself out of bed, gritting her teeth at the pain. As like any other 'normal' time, Brutus had not been gentle here either. She slowly walked over to the clothes pile, and after taking many deep breaths, she picked up the pile, holding it at arms' length as if just by holding it close or for too long would give her a disease, and pushed open the door to Cashmere's en suite bathroom, depositing the clothing in the bin under the sink as fast as she could. She would never, ever want to touch or wear those again.

Clove slowly made her way over to she shower, stepping inside; the pain she felt now just as normal as having a shower itself even though it had only been just under half an hour since she had woken. Her hands fiddled with the taps as if she was working on a complex machine, looking for the result she wanted. The temperature of the shower wasn't right until it was almost even past scalding, until every drop that hit her skin ached and sizzled furiously at the contact with her skin. Her eyes wandered her body as she gripped the purple bar of soap. Red marks. Scratches. Cuts. Ugly, purple bruises. Dried blood went down the drain with the hot water. The purples, the pinks, the yellows, the reds, all blurring together. Brutus had made her body a canvas; a painting that she hated even more now.

The pain intensified as she scrubbed her skin furiously with the bar of soap, but she didn't care anymore. Her mind was trying to get back to last night; what had exactly gone on last night? No events would, come back, just occurrences. The one thing she properly did know was that she was at Cashmere's party last night, but after that, it was all just occurrences. Drinking a beer, which turned into three beers eventually. Brutus giving her a kiss on the cheek; the display of affection he used just to let everyone in the room think they were a fine, healthy couple, maybe even sweet, though it wouldn't ever be said to their faces. Becoming engrossed in a conversation with Cashmere and Enobaria. Occurrences. Small things in a tangled web of events; something she couldn't unravel.

Maybe I got into the harder stuff later that night and we drunkenly hooked up? She thought to herself, though it didn't erase the awful feeling that had settled in her stomach. It was a nicer alternative to what she thought had happened, but it left a lot to be explained. If anyone asked, that was what she'd say. What she thought was the truth would stay her secret. No one needed to know. No one would believe her anyway. Brutus was a nice guy. He got good grades (from cheating), was a sports star, and was a loving boyfriend (when people were around, that was.)

Once she got out of the shower, she quickly slipped on some of Cashmere's clothes (Cashmere had borrowed her clothes so many times that she wouldn't be surprised that half the clothes in the girl's damn wardrobe were actually hers); a blue shirt, black jeans and a few too sizes big black hoodie, quickly shoving it over her head. If her friends saw her like this, with no make up on, dressed in almost all black and hair tangled, they would probably pin her down and force her to go and make herself 'presentable,' but she didn't really care. What was the point of looking presentable anymore when she felt this awful?

"So, Clove, Cashmere told me the great news- oh my God, you look like shit!" Enobaria burst out, a sharp pain running through Clove's head again. Normally, she would've asked for some pills or something, but she just wanted to get out of there.

"I didn't exactly plan the cover girl thing. I feel like shit." Clove muttered, continuing to walk to the door of Cashmere's house. "I... I just need to go home, okay? My mom wants something. I'll see you on Monday." Clove added a few seconds later, knowing that her lie was pathetic, but not caring at all. She heard Cashmere and Enobaria ask questions as she left the house, but she didn't bother to answer them, instead continuing on her way. Was she really going to go home? She didn't even know where she was going to go.

As she walked down the street, she couldn't help but notice that the rain pouring down around her, droplets landing on and just soaking her hoodie, happened to match her mood. The wheels were turning in her head, almost working overtime, as she tried even harder to try and remember something that happened last night. Her mind went back to when she had awoken in Cashmere's room. The ripped black underwear; hers, Brutus's belt, all the marks...

Hands roughly gripped her hips, nails gripping into the soft skin. He hovered over her for a moment before moving her to a different position on the pillows. He carelessly lowered himself on top of her, lips and teeth moving against her neck.

"Little doll." He whispered. Was it meant to be affectionate, or a sneer?

Chocolate brown eyes snapped open. Deep breaths were taken. She wasn't even sure if she was on the street or the pavement anymore. She felt as if the coarse hands were still on her hips, as if the words were being whispered into her ears again, accompanied with rough, hard neck kisses. The urge to be sick got harder to push back, and she knew if she threw up now, she would only feel even worse.

Suddenly, sounds alerted her. The skidding of tires. Footsteps. Before she knew what was going on, she felt herself being grabbed, and then the feeling of her small body hitting the pavement, narrowly missing a face plant. For a few seconds, she lay there on the cold concrete, but then a horrible urge filled her, and before she could knock it back, she sat up quickly... and puked all over herself.

"Ugh. What the fuck happened to you?! You look like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards." A voice. Extremely embarrassed, she forced herself to look up, and saw herself looking into the eyes of a boy with ice blue eyes. She knew that boy. That boy was the one her friends called a freak. That was the boy was the one that her friends called his friends freaks, and she was guilty of that on certain occasions too. That was the boy with the skinny blonde girl as a best friend that could eat like a pig and never gain a pound... and didn't seem to care, not even when she booted her off the dance team... much. That was the boy that was one of the crowd that hated her, and she knew in her mind that she couldn't blame him.

"I'll go." Clove snapped, trying to resist the urge to throw up once more; one time had already made her feel even more terrible. "I didn't exactly plan to almost face plant on the fucking pavement and throw up on myself." She frowned, trying to hide her embarrassment. Either way, she knew one thing - on Monday, after viewing this train wreck, the blond boy would have a damn field day with spreading the news around.

"Just like you didn't plan to almost get hit by a truck?" The boy questioned, making her raise an eyebrow. "Yeah. Not wise to just wander around the street, you know." She looked down, running her hands across the concrete. A part of her, in the very back of her mind, was actually kind of wishing that he hadn't dragged her off the road. In the first place... why had he actually pulled her off the road?

"I'm surprised you actually did drag me off the road, you know." Clove accidentally blurted out, followed by another stream of words that came out uninvited a few seconds later. "Considering what happens at school." The boy stared at her for a moment, as if he was slightly confused as well, but then managed to give her a response.

"There were people around. I was the closest. If you got hit and died, my fault. Can't have that." The boy answered sarcastically, and for a moment, things between them were completely silent. "But... as very, very tempting as it is, I can't exactly leave you here on the street lathered in your own vomit, so come on." He muttered, confusing Clove even more. Looking reluctant, the boy, who she was now searching her head for his name, held a hand out to her.

"Charming." Clove sneered, looking at his hand as she continued to search her mind for his name. "Seriously? I should go with you? I know on Monday, this will be all around the school, right?" The boy looked at her. Telling everyone that Collins High's mean girl had almost gotten run over and then preceded to vomit all over herself right in front of everyone was very tempting. "How about I make you a deal?"

"How do I know that you aren't going to lie?" The boy growled. Clove looked at him, her hand faintly brushing his for a moment, but quickly, she brushed her hand away, the touch bringing her back to the memories of Brutus, even though the two were completely different. Little doll... little doll... little doll...

"You'll just have to take a gamble, buddy." Clove rolled her eyes, trying to hide the panic that had filled her seconds ago. She couldn't get anyone suspicious, especially a guy that she was sure had more sense than her friends (even though they were most likely 'enemies', anyone had more sense than her friends.) "Here's the deal: if you don't tell anyone about my little 'accident' on the pavement, I won't tell anyone that I willingly went to a freak's house."

"Fine." The boy sighed softly. Not taking his hand, not wanting the memories to return again so quickly, Clove picked herself off the pavement, feeling even more disgusted with herself than she ever thought was possible. Why had this all had to happen? "Do you even know what my name is... other than, well, 'The Freak?" He asked bitterly as they walked.

"Not particularly. I don't take to memorizing names of losers." Clove growled, trying to mask her embarrassment of not remember his name. Why it embarrassed her so much, she didn't exactly know.

"Cato. While I don't normally take to remembering the names of whores, I've heard yours around the school too many times to even attempt to block it out." Cato snapped back at her, and it hurt Clove more than both of them thought it would. Whore. The ripped clothes. The scratches. The marks. Though she knew it was not true in the very back of her mind, Clove only had one thought running around in her head.

Disgusting whore. It's all my fault Brutus did that to me.

xxxx


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The weekends for the Year Ten students of Collins High had all ended up different, some good, while most were mediocre or crossing over into the territory of bad, as it had been for Clove. On Saturday, after the awful realizations and being dragged off the street by Cato, she spent an awkward afternoon in his apartment, both of them agreeing to never mention the visit or him saving her off the road, or anything that had happened to anyone, or ever again once she had left. Once she left though, she ended up developing a feeling of loneliness, though she'd never tell anyone about it. The text from her friends and Brutus didn't help. How dare he? She thought angrily as she read his much too innocent after what he did messages, only to be filled with sickness when her friends sent her texts, congratulating her on losing her virginity. If only they knew... not that she ever let them know.

In The Seam, in Katniss' home, she had spent her weekend searching for a new job, knowing that she couldn't leave herself unemployed for too long. By the end of the weekend, she had three choices, none of them exactly desirable, lined up: the first one was answering an ad that had been placed in the newspaper for become a children's party entertainer, dressing up in a frilly pink dress and parading around as a fairy a few times a week, go down to the corner store, which she hadn't even stepped foot in to buy groceries in since Peeta Mellark had (accidentally, but she was still angry) gotten her fired, and beg Mr. Snow for her job back, or wait and wait for what could be weeks and weeks, the refrigerator emptying and the house going to ruin, until she found a job ad she could answer.

Peeta's weekend had been in the mediocre range. Any weekend was normally awful when his mother was there, but on the Sunday, she had come out with something that had absolutely given him a shock: she had said, under her rules, of course, that she would allow him to start searching around for a job, and by the end of the weekend, he had only found one job - involving a frilly pink dress, a magic wand, and fairy wings... and he was pretty confident that he wouldn't fit that job description at all, or get a positive reception if he showed up at a job interview. Still, he'd keep on looking. If he was allowed to get a job; another chance to get out of the house, away from his mother, he'd take it... he just hoped there wouldn't be any catches later on.

Another girl, had actually had a rather good weekend. She had only moved into the area on Friday, and had spent her days painting her room and unpacking cardboard boxes, blowing orange curls out of her face, staring at the objects in the boxes with her amber eyes as she brushed away her non existent first day of school nerves. Now, the nerves still not there, she was sitting in the office in a uniform that was a little bit too big for her, a bag by her black boots, waiting for Principal Paylor to come back with who would be showing her around. Secretly, it bothered her, she didn't mind getting lost. It was just another puzzle to solve, but she knew that protesting on the first day wouldn't get her a very good reputation.

"Finch?" The soft, yet still firm voice of Principal Paylor alerted her attention again, and when she looked up, she noticed the principal standing with a boy that looked a few years ahead of her, though she knew that if he was showing her around, he was probably in Year Ten like her; his eyes dark, his skin only a few shades darker than the principal's. He looked like a sporty one, not the type that she would hang out with, but she knew not to judge by appearances. "This is Thresh Mills, Thresh, this is Finch Foxworthy. Judging by your school record I reviewed, I think you two will get along quite nicely. Thresh is one of the smartest boys in our year, and he runs the Chess Team too... the numbers are expanding by the day, aren't they, Thresh?"

"Yeah." Thresh mumbled. "Last time I checked, there's two of us... me included." He added, looking quite embarrassed. Finch almost laughed, but quickly pushed it back down her throat. "Uh... yes, Finch. It's nice to meet you." He held out a large hand for her to shake. She put her smaller one in his, trying to give him a firm handshake. She noticed a smile appear on his face, then on Principal Paylor's behind them.

"Well... I'll leave you to show her around, Thresh. I'm sure she won't get into any trouble in your hands." Principal Paylor nodded, disappearing down the halls, back to her medium sized office. Finch nervously picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulders, willing her to speak. Finch had never been the best at getting her words out; she was all about the mind... it didn't exactly help with the friend thing.

"Can I see your Chess Team?" Finch suddenly burst out, her voice almost as quiet as a mouse. For a minute, Thresh looked at her, wondering if she was trying to mock him about his tiny Chess Team, but she shot him a glance that read 'I am being fully serious,' and then without a word, he lead her out of the large office of Collins High and into the halls, crowded with people since the bell for Roll Call had not yet gone yet.

Finch looked around the halls as Thresh lead her through them, noticing that there was not one student alone, students together in bunches, chattering loudly. If this was an ordinary day, she knew she'd be the odd one out, by herself... but then again, Finch was always the odd one. She continued to look around the hallways, climbing up the stairs with the boy, but then she almost jumped out of her skin at the almost deafening sound of the school bell for Roll Call. Without even having to ask, Thresh lead her to Roll Call as well.

When they got in, Thresh quietly whispered that there was no seating arrangement and then slipped into a seat by the door, wanting to be the first to get out of the room once Roll Call was over. Knowing it would be better than just sitting next to a complete stranger, Finch slipped into the seat next to Thresh, taking a thick dystopian novel; the second in a trilogy she was really enjoying, out of her bag and starting to read... until she heard someone in front of her clear their throat. When Finch looked up, thinking it was a teacher, she was instead met with with the cold brown eyes belonging to a girl who looked like she had never ever smiled in her life, her hair disheveled, and her high black collar making her look even more like Dracula. When Finch saw her open her mouth, she half expected to see fangs.

"Um... excuse me." The girl said in a snappy tone. "I don't know who you are, but you're in my seat." Finch looked at Thresh, who was staring at the Dracula looking girl with a look that read: 'I really, really want to bash your skull in,' remembering that he had said that there was no seating arrangement, but he just shook his head at her before turning his attention back to 'Dracula girl.'

"Clove, there's no seating arrangement." Thresh rolled his brown eyes as he looked at Clove, arms folded. The girl quickly returned the eye roll. "Just sit somewhere else. It won't kill you." Finch noticed he must have been very close to adding a 'but I might if you don't go away,' but he stayed strong. Clove's eyes turned even darker, looking as if she was about to snap at Finch, but then a cocky voice from the back of the room alerted her, and Finch thought she saw a bit of fear in her eyes.

"Aw, come on, little doll. No need to make such a fuss. There's no more seats anywhere, so just sit n my lap." The boy smirked as Clove shuddered. Brutus. A voice she never wanted to hear again. She noticed him stand up. He was coming towards her, and now that Miss Trinket, their year adviser and Roll Call teacher, had come into the room and she knew he would come after her anyway, she couldn't run out. She had managed to avoid him all morning, but not now. Strong arms that she couldn't get rid of snaked around her waist and moved her away with him, Thresh and Finch breathing out sighs of relief while she panicked inside.

The body on top of her wasn't gentle. Nails dug into her sides and ran down them as words were whispered in her ear, but she couldn't catch them. she could barely catch what was going on, but then, something managed to slightly alert her in her state. The feeling of her underwear being ripped...

Clove felt her heart race madly, feeling as if she was in another world; a world out of a nightmare as the memory hit her like a ton of bricks. Brutus held her tightly against him, and she felt like she was going to puke, everyone else in the classroom seemingly oblivious. She wanted to scream and scream, run away as far as she could where no one could find her or stay in this classroom and punch him, kick him and slap him as hard as she could. Last night, she had gotten her first nightmares since she was a child, and as she expected, they had all included him.

Once the bell had gone, she managed to get out of his arms, walking as fast as she could. It was wrong. This shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have. She wrapped her heavy black coat around her tightly, trying to ignore the booming footsteps behind her, dreading that he would put his hands on whatever he would find, no one around her noticing. Instead, trying to get her mind off the horrible things that were racing through her mind (even though she knew it wouldn't leave forever), she looked at the two people in front of her. Thresh... and that odd girl that had taken her seat.

"It looks like Homeless Boy has a new companion: Foxface." Clove sneered, and for a minute, it made her fell better, especially when she heard the snickers behind her. She was loved when that happened, she sometimes thought, but soon, she just felt even worse. You fat, awful whore. No wonder Brutus raped you. She shut her eyes tightly.

Thresh, on the other hand, just kept walking, Finch following. Homeless Boy. Foxface. It wasn't much, but Clove had been bothering him for so long... and if this kept on going, he was sure, eventually, he would snap... and it wouldn't be pretty at all.

xxxx

Once Roll Call was let out, Katniss was focused on one destination that would come before heading to the gym for her first period PE lesson; her least favourite lesson, especially first period on a Monday - the school noticeboard. Sometimes job opportunities for teenagers were posted up there, and since at home they didn't have a computer, she hardly got to use the school ones, and she didn't get to read the paper this morning, she thought there may be something fresh and new there that she would be able to do. She got herself through the crowd, she not letting her be pushed around by the crowd, noticing it thin out considerably when she got to the noticeboard. Her grey eyes flickered around it until she found something that proved an interest.

The Golden Pin

A family diner run by a local family is currently in need of waiters/waitresses.

Looking for a reliable, friendly person that can help us continue to give good service to the public. Working hours will be sorted when new job lists are posted.

Job interviews will be running from Thursday-Monday in The Golden Pin, from 3:30 PM to 8PM.

If interested, tear off a strip from the bottom of the flyer, which has our phone number on it, and the address of our restaurant.

Morris Undersee, The Golden Pin Owner

Katniss read over the ad several times. A diner... she could do that quite easily, she figured. She was reliable (the friendly thing she may have to work on, though) and maybe she could even snag some leftovers to bring home for dinner for her, Prim and their mother? Managing a small smile, Katniss looked at the strips on the bottom of the page, only noticing one left; a seemingly popular job ad. As she reached for the last strip, another hand reached out to grab it too.

When she looked over at who had reached for the strip too, her eyes narrowed almost immediately, and it must have worked, as the boy backed away a little at her death glare that formed. Peeta Mellark. Since the first day at school for this year, he had seemed to end up being around almost everywhere. She could kind of get why he could go for the job too. He had been around food all the time when his parents' bakery had been around; it had closed down after the Mellark husband and wife's 'scandalous' divorce, and now, he was probably ready to look for something new too.

"Sorry, Katniss." Peeta mumbled shyly, his gaze flickering between her, the flyer and the worn tiles on the floor. ""You can take the strip... I'll look for something else." He added, looking at her. At first, Katniss nodded, but then a rare feeling of guilt ran through her. If he was looking for a job, it wasn't her that just needed it. Even though she didn't exactly want to spend an afternoon with Peeta Mellark after the whole corner store madness, she had blurted out the words before she could even get a full grip on her words.

"It's fine. How about we just... share the strip? I'll meet you by the gates and we'll walk to The Golden Pin for the interview." Katniss forced out, and immediately, she knew she couldn't force it back. She noticed a slight gleam in Peeta's eyes that made her cheeks flush red; very lightly of course, and quickly, she ripped off the strip, pocketing it. "I'll see you this afternoon?" She forced out again.

"Okay." Peeta nodded. "We have PE, right? Can we walk together?" He asked, and while at first she wanted to make an excuse, once she remembered that gleam, Katniss couldn't bring herself to say no to him.

xxxx

When they had come in for PE had made a point of counting all the girls in the class were here today, and once he noticed Katniss Everdeen leave the changing room in her PE uniform; girl number thirteen out of the fourteen girls there in the class that day, he smirked. He knew Clove's routine perfectly. Since he knew how much she hated her weight, she dressed last, when everyone else had left the change room... giving him a perfect chance to talk to her. Looking around, he noticed Coach Lyme tell everyone to help set up for today's volleyball game, giving him a chance to slip inside the girl's change room carefully.

He leaned against the brick for a moment, watching her slip her shirt off, thinking that she was alone. His green eyes surveyed her body and his smirk grew wider, recalling how he touched her. The planning and the waiting had been worth it, and the fact that she was now absolutely terrified of him made it even better... for him, that was. A faint part of his brain told him it was sick, but then again, a part of him said to himself that what he did to Clove was normal. His Dad had done it for years to get what he desired. It had to be okay.

Eventually, as Clove collected her PE shirt from her bag, he went over to her and pinned her to the wall with both his hand and a rough, deep, unloving kiss, not wanting to lose the sight of her in her bra yet. She was hot... but the face she made when he called her enormous was hilarious in his opinion, and he couldn't help but continue with it all. He watched the fear in her eyes; the color drain from her face. Was it possible that she was even more beautiful now that she was so scared of him?

"Brutus, what are you doing in here?" Clove asked, voice softer than he had ever heard it. She wanted to scream, scream that Brutus, the sick, disgusting, creep, had sneaked into the change room and ask for help, but she felt like her voice had been ripped away from her. One of his cold hands ran down her exposed flesh; nails digging into the scratch marks that were already there on her body.

"I just wanted to ask you in private whether or not you enjoyed our... encounter..." Brutus stroked over her cheek lightly, making her start to shake. For a moment, she felt like she couldn't breathe. "Don't look so upset, little doll. I had dignity. I used protection." He mocked. For a moment, Clove managed a frown, trying to get a grip on herself, though the bad thoughts rushed through madly.

"If you had any dignity, you wouldn't have raped me." Clove hissed, and suddenly, she felt herself being shoved against the wall again, even harder. While she narrowly missed a hard hit to the head, she honestly wouldn't have cared if she had hit her head. She wanted to pass out, though again, she didn't at the same time. Sleeping scared her now too. What if he managed to get into her room, and he did it again?

"Don't get like that." Brutus said through gritted teeth. "I could easily drag you into one of those showers and fuck you until you cry, but no, I'm being nice." He mocked more, shoving the girl to the ground. "But, now you've upset me, you ungrateful cow, I'm going to be the bigger person and leave." His voice almost rose to a shout as he left.

Once he left, Clove peeled herself off the floor and dressed for PE, but she didn't leave the change room. She curled up in a ball and before she knew what she was doing, she had peeled herself out of that position and was snatching food from people's bags. She curled up in the corner and ate, unable to even realize what she was doing. Her body felt possessed, with only one urge: eat.

Fat.

Whore.

You deserved to be raped.

Each word was in rhythm with the chews.

I could easily drag you into one of those showers and fuck you until you cry.

Clove stuck her fingers down her throat and bent over the bowl, not caring if anyone heard. Even after she had emptied the contents of her stomach, she felt like she needed to throw up again, though she didn't. She straightened her hair up again and forced herself to leave the change rooms, a part of herself worried that someone that could pin the missing food back to her. She peered around carefully when she got outside, noticing Brutus too busy hanging around with Gloss and Brutus to make her feel worse, and the rest of the class, or rather most of them, playing volleyball.

Feeling even more sick, Clove took a seat on the small benches by the side... only to realize by doing that... she was sitting next to Cato. Great... she thought to herself tiredly. At least it's better than playing volleyball, I guess.

"Is it a running theme for you to look like shit lately?" Cato asked her as soon as he noticed it was there. For a reason unexpected, his words confused Clove. Brutus could say the same thing all the time and it would destroy her, but when Cato said it, she, if she was in a better state on mind, would have laughed. But then again, Brutus had done a lot more than Cato ever would; she was sure.

"I didn't know you thought I looked nice before, huh?" Clove said back, trying to play it cool. She held back a grimace once she had finished speaking. Her throat was so sore... but she knew in the back of her mind, after all this time, she should have been used to it. Quickly, she tried to turn her attention to Cato's face, watching him quickly shake his head.

"What? No... no... I mean, you just look more like shit than usual." Cato quickly picked himself up. He had to admit, in the many, many times he had 'studied' the actions of The Dangerous at lunch breaks, before school and sometimes when the work was exceptionally boring, in class, that Clove, almost ninety nine percent of the time, looked hot. He wouldn't tell her though, he thought that would mean that she a had 'won...' and he also didn't want her to know that there was something about her that he actually kind of liked.

"Oh." Clove rolled her eyes. "So... why aren't you playing?" She gestured to the game of volleyball that was going on in front of them, watching it for a few seconds with a little yawn. As Cato opened his mouth, Coach Lyme blew her whistle and pointed to Clove before starting to speak in her authoritative voice.

"Clove Taylor, go take Glimmer Goldheart's place on the court!" Coach Lyme called, Clove watching tiredly as Glimmer limped over to the bench. Though she was worried she would throw up all over the still well polished floor of the gym, she knew better than to fight Coach Lyme (one of the only teachers at school she respected) and got up, watching Glimmer sit down on the bench. Lucky bitch. In more ways than one.

Watching Clove go, Glimmer took a seat on the bench beside Cato, rubbing her calf with a sigh. She had always hated PE; she proffered afternoon Sport instead as at least there was an actual choice there, and while she wouldn't admit it, her favourite part of PE was sitting down on the bench and watching everyone else play the game. She leaned herself against the wall, looking at Cato and not bothering to focus on the game.

"You and Taylor seem to be getting friendly." Glimmer teased, making Cato roll his eyes. While she pretended to be lost in a world behind her earphones, she was actually quite observant to the world around her, watching the world to the beat of the drums, and now, she was starting to notice the fact that Cato, even when he probably didn't notice what he was doing.

As she waited for a response, a neatly painted finger nail reached down to a rubber band around her wrist, pulling it back as far as she could and snapping it as hard as she could against the soft flesh of her arm, continuing the motion as her friend talked; she could hide it well with her black jacket sleeve.

"No way. She's a bitch." Cato rolled his eyes, trying to play it cool. He folded his arms, not noticing what his friend was doing with the rubber band. "We were just... casually speaking."

"Casually speaking?" While the pain had almost made tears begin to prickle in her eyes, she managed a scoff. "So that's what these young guys are calling gazing at a girl, namely their lips, while trying to speak to them?" Glimmer teased more. "I do study these things you know. It's how that Thresh kid managed to hit me in the leg with the ball because I was too focused on watching you look like an idiot."

"I was gazing at the bags under her eyes." Cato half lied, ignoring Glimmer's 'idiot' comment, it a usual thing for the two of them. "She looks like a complete wreck... not that I care, of course. Besides, Brutus wouldn't let anyone near her." Cato watched as Brutus walked by Clove, smacking her ass as she went. "Fucking gross. He treats her like a piece of meat."He grimaced, looking away from them, but not fast enough to not notice Clove looked quite spooked once Brutus was gone. Odd...

"Someone's in denial." Glimmer sing songed, making Cato scoff, and instead, he turned back to watching the volleyball game. No. No. He wasn't in denial..

xxxx

When the bell rang for first break, Finnick almost immediately filled with dread. Today was one of the rare days where he actually preferred to be in the classroom instead of out in the courtyard or the oval, mostly because Johanna wasn't at school. That morning, he had received a text from Johanna which read that she 'couldn't be fucked with coming to school today' which transferred into 'I drank too much over the weekend and I have a killer hangover so I'm not coming.' At school, Johanna was his only friend. He used to have more friends at the school he attended before 'the incident,' but after he moved to Collins High, he wasn't bothered in searching for some to replace the ones that he had lost. If his parents were and still were walking on eggshells around him, why think that someone at school would be his friend? Actually, if it wasn't for Johanna storming up to him on the first day of school and 'adopting' him, he would most likely have no friends now.

After awhile of wandering and watching the students around him, Finnick thought of a place he barely ever went to spend his lunch break: the library. Of course, he had been there a few times, in the always loved library lessons that were basically a free period and to do some light research, but he had never headed in there for lunch. The only other option would probably be the boy's toilets, and that certainly wasn't going to be him any time soon. Why the hell do they make the lonely kid eat their lunch in the toilets in all the movies? Finnick thought to himself as he head up the stairs to the library. Pretty unsanitary.

As Finnick pushed the door of the library open of the library, he actually stood there in shock for a single moment, simply because of how... empty the library was. Of course, with how most of the school population was, he didn't expect it to be filled with people... but then again, he didn't expect it to be this empty either. He stepped further into the library and looked around for a moment. The only people he could see in the library were the librarian herself, the Chess Team members Thresh, a Year Seven boy named Ian, and a girl with bright orange hair, a girl that had just arrived to the school and his class that morning, whose name that he didn't bother to remember. Then, as he scanned his eyes around the library again, he noticed someone else, stacking books on a shelf... Annie.

"Annie!" Finnick called out, but it was only after the words had left his lips did he realised his mistake... and soon a bunch of rather angry faces were looking at him, all 'shushing' in unison. He looked at Annie nervously, and noticed her face had turned beet red.

"Quiet, Mr. Odair!" The librarian snapped at him, looking up from one of her large crossword puzzles from the paper. Finnick looked at her and nodded, going a shade of red himself.

"Sorry, Miss. I'll keep it down from now on." Finnick said quietly in apology, and even though he knew it was cruel, he couldn't help but think to himself, I won't be using my voice very loudly around Annie, anyway. He quickly reached Annie, wondering if he should help her with all the books piled at her sides. "Um... hello, Annie. Sorry about being so loud." He apologised, it more sincere that the sheepish one he had given the librarian. He noticed Annie quickly reach for her notepad.

It's okay, Finnick. Annie responded before picking up a large stack of young adult fiction and shelving it accordingly. She was quite used to people yelling at her after all of these years of not speaking, especially her name, and it was barely ever meant anything good. She was still wondering why Finnick was being so kind to her, especially after giving him a concussion last year, but she liked it and hoped that it wasn't a trick. People had used her before. To get votes. To get a good reputation.

"Do you stay up here a lot?" Finnick asked, still making sure to keep his voice quiet, taking a few novels from Annie's pile and attempting to help her shelve them. The library wasn't exactly his hot spot, but he could see why Annie would like it there. Compared to the harsh hallways outside, the library was calm and quiet, there was barely anyone around, and it was a way to get away from the people Finnick had now started to notice sometimes gave her harsh stares.

Yes. Annie began to write, occasionally looking up to check that Finnick was putting the books in their correct spots. I work up in the library as a library monitor. It's better than going outside for break time. Annie hated it outside. Outside wasn't just loud and scary and annoying... outside had The Dangerous. She was sure she was safe in the library; she doubted that she would spot anyone in The Dangerous around the library any time soon.

"It's certainly calmer thank out there." Finnick mumbled as he reached for some more books, trying to keep their 'conversation,' if you could call it that. "But... if you ever want someone to hang out with, you can always come and sit with Johanna and I. Remember her? The girl dancing at the party?" Finnick blurted out. In response, Annie nodded, holding back a snort of laughter as she thought of that crazy sight of her dancing on the table that Saturday night. "And if you're worried about... you know... them, I'm sure that Johanna can keep them off your back."

Suddenly, a mental image came back to Annie of Johanna, a mental image of Johanna that she didn't think she had, because at this point, Annie hadn't known Johanna's name. Last year, towards the end of the year when everyone was sick of each other and desperate to just have their holiday break start, Clove had thought it would be hilarious to tape a sign to Johanna's ass that read 'SORRY I TAKE UP HALF OF THE HALLWAY.' Needless to say... once Johanna found out, she was less than impressed with Clove's 'joke.' In response, Johanna grabbed Clove at lunch break, picking her up as if she was a rag doll... and tossed her in the nearest bin.

It was a very important day for the school outcasts, including Annie.

That might be nice. A smile tugged at Annie's lips. She hadn't really hung out with anyone since before she had stopped speaking. She hadn't exactly had friends since before she had stopped speaking. She had almost forgotten what it was like to have a friend, even, so the invitation would be very welcome. I'll come sit with you both tomorrow.

"I'll meet you after class third period tomorrow, then." Finnick nodded, and once he saw Annie's pretty smile again, he went back to helping her with the books. He hoped that their friendship would work out...

xxxx

Ever since the party on Friday night, Cashmere had dealt with a bad feeling in her stomach that not even all of the alcohol she had drank that night had been able to get rid of. While Clove had told her the morning after the party that she and Brutus had sex the night before, everything didn't add up to her. She looked so out of it... how could she had turned around so quickly? And she couldn't help but notice the next morning, Clove looked a little unsettled. During the first three periods, she had heard Brutus boasting, but she wasn't sure how true it all was. She knew it could be like beating her head against a brick wall since Clove was so secretive, but Cashmere couldn't help but ask her anyway.

Clove, on the other hand, was lost in her own world, almost missing Cashmere's question. Brutus's boasting and unknown to everyone else's lying was making her feel even worse... especially when Brutus warned her before he went off with his friends that if she told anyone, it would happen again... though this time, she'd be wide awake to remember it. She shuddered without noticing and curled her fingers around the grass, trying to rip it from the ground as a distraction. It didn't help that Cashmere was eating pizza right in front of her eyes, either. Remember, after that disgusting display in the change room, you aren't going to eat for the rest of the day and tomorrow, okay? Clove said to herself furiously... just as she remembered that Cashmere asked her a question.

'Um... Clove?" Cashmere raised an eyebrow at the girl. Lately, she seemed to be 'slipping away' every now and then. "Did you hear me? I asked if you were okay after the party." At the question, Clove tried not to tense. While Cashmere was the most attentive and the closest to her out of all of her friends, she was sure that she wouldn't have noticed any of the stuff that happened with Brutus.

"Of course." Clove lied; there was no way she'd tell anyone, especially Cashmere, the truth even more after Brutus's warning. She knew that most likely, she wouldn't be believed either. "Why do you ask? It was just a stupid party."

"You seemed kind of.. off on Saturday morning." Cashmere mumbled as she chewed on her lower lip, knowing that she had to choose her words carefully around Clove. "And Brutus's story is kind of... odd considering that on Friday night, before you were taken upstairs, you seemed pretty much dead to the world."

While Brutus was her friend, how he was putting the story of Clove 'finally having sex with him' was even making her feel sick, and partly confused. Apparently, Clove was just pretending to be drunk to get him to take her upstairs, and as soon as they were out of the way of everyone else at the party, she dropped the act, and to his pleasant surprise, jumped into bed with him without a single second thought. For awhile, she'd tried to piece it together, but eventually gave up.

"Cashmere, it's like the fish story." Clove continued to lie, wishing that Cashmere would just drop the subject.

"Fish story?" Cashmere raised an eyebrow, taking a small bite of her pizza. Clove tried to keep her eyes off it. She was starving, but was determined to listen to the voice in her head and not ask for a piece.

"You know, a guy catches a fish. At the beginning of the night it's a normal sized fish when the story is told. Then, after some repetitions and some beer, the fish gets bigger... until you get shit faced and the fish is as big as the fucking fishing boat." Clove explained, folding her arms. Quickly, Cashmere nodded back in understanding. "Now that we've gotten it sorted, can we drop the subject?"

"Fine, Clove." Cashmere nodded with a soft sigh, knowing it was no use. She tried to drop the subject and tell herself that Clove was right; it was fine, she was just a bit drunk and couldn't remember it all and Brutus was exaggerating... but she couldn't help but notice how Clove flinched when Brutus came over to her at the end of lunch and kissed her...

xxxx

By the end of the day, to say Cato was bored would be an understatement. It didn't help that sixth period was History... with Mr. Woof, a teacher that should have retired years ago due to how most of the time, he ended up droning on about something that made absolutely no sense, or napping in at his desk. Today, much to the annoyance of Cato, Mr. Woof was not sleeping... but instead going on and on about mashed bananas. He idly chewed on his pen, wondering if this period would ever end. Ink poisoning would be so nice right now, he thought to himself, letting out a yawn.

"Assignment!" Mr. Woof suddenly burst out, shocking most of the class and bringing them back to reality again. Their teacher shakily picked up the whiteboard marker and quickly began to write. "Oh yes, the assignment. I meant to give it to you last week.." He mumbled, looking around the class.

As he explained the assignment, Cato pretty much blanked out. Him, Marvel and Glimmer had a system - they'd partner up, and Glimmer would do the whole assignment for them, and hand it in as if all three of them did it. It secretly made Glimmer really, really angry, but she stayed quiet, knowing after all this time, why bother? He only came back to focusing on the assignment when Mr. Woof uttered the most terrifying words of the school year so far - 'I have already picked the groups for you.'

Quickly, Cato's eyes scanned the board for his name, hoping he'd ended up somewhere semi-decent.

GROUP 1 - Cashmere Silverwood, Finch Foxworthy, Peeta Mellark

GROUP 2 - Marvel Stevens, Madge Undersee, Thresh Mills, Enobaria Sharpe

GROUP 3 - Glimmer Goldheart, Delly Cartwright, Katniss Everdeen

GROUP 4 - Johanna Mason, Finnick Odair, Annie Cresta, Brutus Wallace

GROUP 5 - Cato Fielding, Gloss Silverwood, Clove Taylor

Cato immediately groaned. He hated assignments as most students did... but this was going to be absolutely torturous. He wasn't with Glimmer or Marvel... but instead two people that he for the most part couldn't stand. In way, he was kind of warming up to Clove (though by not much)... but he knew that when it came to this assignment, she'd be wearing the pants and would make sure that everyone would be doing something, while Gloss, until Clove snapped him out of it, would spend most of his time bragging about his muscles. And the assignment was due in two months.

Brilliant.

"Please go sit in your groups." Mr. Woof instructed, and very reluctantly, Cato moved over to sit with Clove and Gloss, who looked just as annoyed about working with him as he was.

"Let's just get this over as fast as we possibly can, okay?" Cato groaned, and for once the two nodded in agreement. "We can go to my house after school and try to start on it." He hated the idea of Gloss, especially in his house, but he didn't exactly want to go to Gloss' or Clove's either. From what he'd heard, they lived in the extremely rich part of town; what he called 'the gallery of snobs.' The day he stepped foot in there would be the day hell froze over.

"For once, you managed to say something clever." Gloss muttered, staring down at his desk. Clove nodded and pretended to be just as annoyed, but secretly, she didn't mind working with Cato. He seemed okay, even if they weren't exactly peachy with each other most of the time. He was much, much better than Brutus, and if she had gotten stuck with him, she probably would have failed her first assignment of the year due to not completing it. She wanted to say something to him, but what came out wasn't exactly desirable.

"You have pen ink all over your lips. And teeth. And chin. Red pen too. You look like you ate someone." Clove blurted out, and she physically had to sit on her hands to stop herself from covering her mouth in sheer embarrassment. Dear God, Clove! This was at no point to bring implied cannibalism into a conversation, she scolded in her mind, trying to keep a frown off her face.

"I ate someone?" Cato raised an eyebrow, rubbing at his chin as if it would get rid of the ink. Cato was a fan of almost anything cruel and morbid, but even cannibalism crossed a line for him. "Well... that's definitely a new one."

Clove looked down immediately, feeling a new feeling run through her - the feeling of a blush. What the fuck is wrong with me? Is cannibalism making me blush? She knew that wasn't the answer, but she wasn't going to admit it was Cato.

Once she was sure it was gone, she looked back at Cato, ink still all over his lips, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she smiled. Maybe the assignment wouldn't be so bad...

xxxx


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, favourites and follows. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and reviews are always appreciated. By the way, this is the last of the prewritten chapters, so updates may not be as fast depending on how much I want to cover in a chapter. The next chapter is probably halfway written, so it should be up soon.**

**A M4D TE4-P4RTY - Thank you for your reviews, I enjoyed reading them and I made my day. Now that you've mentioned it, I'm working on a storyline for Gloss that will probably start next chapter. It's much lighter than Clove's story and Peeta's story and a few of the others going on right now, but depending on the road I'm going to take may get darker. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :D**

Chapter Five

As she had promised that morning, Katniss nervously waited at the gates for Peeta, a small part in the back of her mind telling her that she should just make a break for it and head to The Golden Pin herself, but then, her mind would always go back to that one thing - the gleam on his eye that she saw this morning. God, Peeta had such beautiful eyes, a thing she was just starting to notice. They were the perfect shade of blue and seemed to have so much behind them, things she hadn't deciphered yet. Looking into his eyes made her want to unravel him, figure out everything behind them and work it all out. But then, she would always come back to reality, and would tell herself that she had no time for people that weren't Prim, especially not Peeta Mellark.

"Katniss?" The girl immediately looked up at Prim's voice, and without hesitating, she waved, noticing that she had two girls beside her. One of them had darker skin than Prim, almost golden eyes, and seemed to be standing almost exactly the way that Prim always stood; as if she was about to spread her wings and take flight. It couldn't help but make her smile, but it quickly faded once she saw the other girl Prim was with. Wild, dark hair. Chocolate brown eyes. Freckled cheeks. Everything about her reminded her of a 'certain someone.'

"Oh... Prim. Are these your friends?" Katniss asked, trying to shake off the bad feeling she got when she looked at the girl. Prim, looking extremely proud, nodded with a wide smile. Of course Prim would make friends. What was I worried about? She's not like me, Katniss thought, though she couldn't shake her bad thoughts. "What are their names?" She just had to ask... just to make sure.

"This is Rue Mills." Prim began, gesturing to the girl that Katniss had thought reminded her a lot of Prim. Mills. She knew that last name. She must have been the brother of a boy in her year, Thresh. Katniss kind of respected him; he did his own thing and didn't let anyone bother him, no matter what.

"Hi." Rue said shyly, waving at Katniss. Katniss smiled a little and returned it, a bit of dread filling her when Prim started to speak again.

"And this is Marley Taylor." Prim continued, gesturing to the other girl. So, she was Clove's little sister. "Um... I was wondering if you'd let me go to the mall with Rue and Marley. Marley's gonna take us shopping." At that, Katniss almost rolled her eyes. It was pathetic that a thirteen year old had more money than her. She really, really wanted to say no... but what would Prim do then? At home, all she could do was play with her cat and have one sided conversations with their mother.

"Well... I have a job interview to go to, so I guess you can go." Katniss said as she watched Peeta appear behind them. "Have fun..." Katniss mumbled reluctantly. She watched with slight sadness as the three ran off squealing happily, before realising that Peeta was now in front of her.

"Hey, Katniss. Sorry I was late, Cashmere kept me behind in History because she wanted to complain about switching groups." Peeta explained, rubbing his forehead.

"It's okay." Katniss shrugged, starting to walk out of the school, Peeta following behind. "Let's just go. I have the address in my pocket." Peeta nodded, and after that, their walk to The Golden Pin was extremely quiet.

When Katniss got to The Golden Pin with Peeta, she felt properly for the first time that she was in a much wealthier part of town. The Golden Pin was a small, yet very beautiful place, mainly lit by dim lights and candles, paintings of songbirds on the wall, the colours of the walls matching the spreads on the tables. The smell of food wafting in from the kitchen in the back almost immediately made each of their mouths water, and Peeta, while knew it would probably never happen, could only think that this would be a lovely place to take Katniss on a date.

"Welcome to The Golden Pin." A woman with smooth blonde hair and wide blue eyes came up to the two, Katniss soon reading her name tag, which read 'Maysilee.' "Table for two?" Maysilee asked. Immediately, Katniss went bright red.

"Oh... um... no. We're here to apply for a job." Katniss explained, trying to hide her blush. Maysilee nodded, leading them to the back, where they noticed others were waiting. Carefully, Katniss took a seat, Peeta sitting beside her. After awhile of sitting there quietly, Peeta decided to reach for her hand. As soon as she felt his hand and hers, Katniss glared and moved her hand away.

"Sorry... just thought I might offer some moral support." Peeta mumbled shyly, not reaching for her hand again.

Katniss sighed to herself and looked down. First, Prim came up to her and revealed that Clove Taylor's little sister (she couldn't help but notice that Marley looked like the type of girl that would microwave her hamster) was one of her new friends, and now Peeta Mellark was trying to hold her hand? She hoped that this day wouldn't get any more strange...

xxxx

As soon as he had arrived home, nervousness had settled in Peeta's stomach. The wait at The Golden Pin had taken them through the afternoon and evening mostly due to all the people that had shown up... and he had completely missed dinner. He shut the front door quietly and turned around, only for his eyes to meet the cold blue one's of his mother. Slowly, each step making a new wave of fear wash over him, his mother moved closer. He immediately noticed the smell of whisky on her breath. His mother had never been a drinker, but after his father left, it was a whole different story.

"Coward." His mother sneered. "Answer me honestly, Peeta. You were not expecting me in here, were you?"

"No, mother." Peeta answered honestly; by this point, he had learned well that lying lead to even worse things.

"And if I weren't here, you were going to go straight up to bed and pretend like you hadn't left me waiting all afternoon and evening, right?" His mother asked him harshly.

"Yes, mother." Peeta gave her another honest answer, his gaze drifting to the tattered carpet below. Quickly, he felt a hand roughly tilting his head upwards, and then the feeling of being slapped in the face. He bit down as hard as he could on his tongue. The slaps didn't hurt as much any more; they'd seemed to be coming for to long now.

"You idiot." His mother snapped. "You know what happens to idiots, don't you Peeta?" She said through gritted teeth.

Peeta nodded. It was no use fighting; it would only make it worse. As his mother disappeared down the hallway to her room, though she would be back, he took off his school bag, set it on an arm chair, and then unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it with his school bag. After that, he waited, and waited... until finally, the cool metal and the leather hit his back for the first time. He shut his eyes tightly. While they had come for as long as the slaps, the lashes always got to him... but he was determined not to cry or make a sound.

He took each lash with eyes shut tightly, knees buckling under him eventually when it hurt too much to stand. He hit the floor face first, but still, he still did not make a single noise. The lashes continued. He could feel the blood trickling down his back. Eventually, spots started to appear in his vision, and as it was all starting to go black, he actually smiled...

xxxx

Marvel hated sitting down with the family for dinner. Family dinners meant unnecessary comments, forced nods and smiles, and for a mask to be put on as always. It sometimes even physically hurt to sit there and listen to him, but he knew he couldn't do anything. He especially couldn't be himself. Tonight was one of the worst so far. A new family had moved in next door, and his parents were less than impressed.

"I can't believe that we have to share our street with them." Marvel's mother hissed, pouring herself a glass of wine. "Did you see that disgusting display outside this morning? I can't believe that they let children see it!"

"What's wrong with it, Mummy?" Marvel's five year old sister Matilda asked, and Marvel hid his smile into a napkin. "You and Daddy do it all the time when you leave for work." He watched his mother's frown and immediately, he went into trying to hide a frown. He wished he could do something to defend, but he couldn't let his secret be revealed. While he wanted to be himself, he didn't want no roof over his head, he didn't want his family to hate him, and he didn't want to never be able to see Matilda again.

"It's meant for mothers and fathers." Marvel's mother snapped. "Not two men. It's disgusting. I wish we could have them removed." She growled. Marvel felt his stomach turn. It felt like they were talking to him... and he just couldn't take it any more.

"Mother? May I be excused?" Marvel asked quietly, and with a tired sigh, his mother nodded.

Marvel slowly went up the stairs, feeling tears prickling in his eyes. He locked himself in the bathroom and slid down against the door, and let the tears fall. Would it ever be okay to be himself? Would he be able to keep it up any longer? He wanted to let it go and be himself. He wanted to be confident. He wanted to tell Cato all of his feelings for him... but he was sadly sure that it wouldn't be soon.

"Will it ever end?" Marvel whispered to himself.

He stayed in the bathroom for another ten minutes before rejoining his family downstairs, trying to pretend he was okay. That was what he did best by now.

xxxx

After what felt like days and days laying in bed and listening to what she was sure the loudest silence ever known, Clove was about to snap, so she slowly sat up and turned her head to the digital clock, squinting as her eyes met with the red numbers, wondering if what she was sure was one of the longest nights of her life was anywhere close to ending and becoming a morning again. No such luck; only five minutes past midnight. Clove groaned and laid down again. She was tired, so, so tired, but she refused to let herself give into her desire to sleep. She wouldn't sleep. She couldn't sleep. Sleep now meant nightmares of Brutus, his hands roughly roaming her body and his harsh, chilling words becoming engraved in her mind. She knew deep down that she wouldn't be able to stay awake forever, but tonight was not going to be a night where she would let herself sleep... at least not without a hard fight to stay awake.

She stared up at her ceiling, wondering how she could distract herself before thinking of Cashmere. Cashmere was often up extremely late because of the weirdest things. Every now and then she would wake up in the middle of the night, decide she didn't like how the light was hitting a corner of her room, and then would decide that twelve midnight would be the perfect time to remodel, or she would decide that the clothes in her closet that she hated weren't 'worthy' of staying in her closet for one more night, and wouldn't go back to bed until her closet was ripped apart limb by limb and then put together again just how she wanted it, and God knows what else. Maybe tonight would be one of those nights?

Clove reached out to her side table and grabbed her phone, taking it off charge and unlocking it, scrolling through until she thought she had found Cashmere's name and quickly typing out a text to her, hoping that she would be up and would answer. She couldn't give in to the sleep and the nightmares that easily. She hated the feeling of being too scared to sleep, too scared of getting a nightmare, waking up and having to force back her screams and tears. She felt weak, one of the worst feelings for her in the world.

Clove: Hey, are you still awake? I can't sleep and was wondering if you could talk. Call me if you're still up, okay?

She reread over the message and actually managed a small smile... but it quickly faded, the colour also draining from her face when her eyes flickered up to who she had sent the message to. It hadn't been Cashmere as she had originally thought... she had actually sent the message to Cato on accident! They had exchanged numbers that afternoon at his apartment for sake of the project, and now she was seriously regretting it. Don't worry, Clove, she tried to tell herself. He's probably sleeping and when he sees it in the morning he'll dismiss it... and on the off chance he asks, I'll tell him it was a wrong number. Yeah. It's okay...

That was when Clove heard her phone ringing. Shit... he must be up, Clove thought to herself. She was fully prepared to ignore the call, tell him she had ending up having 'luck' going to sleep if on the off chance he asked... but then, as if she had been possessed and before she could really process what she was doing, she reached out and picked up her phone again.. and answered Cato's call.

"Hey." Clove muttered, trying to play it cool and pretend that she did not care at all about his call, fully prepared to tell him that it was a wrong number and that he shouldn't have even bothered to call, but something else slipped out instead. "Did I wake you with my text? I've been up for hours..." She shrugged, making sure to keep her voice down as much as she could. Marley was a light sleeper, and she hated hearing all of her little sister's bitching that her voice made it unable to sleep. She liked to pick at her until she was ready to throw her off the roof.

"Um.. hey." Cato mumbled, still surprised that she'd called him, not having woken up to the fact that it could possibly be a wrong number. "And no, you didn't wake me up. My sister's friend's baby that she's looking after while she's gone hasn't stopped fucking crying since after dinner." He muttered in frustration, wincing as he continued to hear it through his closed doors. If only the walls were just a little thicker, and he would be able to get some peace in quiet in his room, at least.

"Must be annoying." Clove wrinkled her nose. Sometimes, when her parents had their next door neighbours over and when they couldn't find a sitter, they'd bring their baby with them as well... and seeing as their baby was one of those types that would not just shut up for a minute no matter what anyone tried to do, she felt his pain a little. "Why do you live with your sister instead of your parents, anyway?" Clove asked, the question leaving her lips uninvited.

Normally, she didn't care when her words came out invited unless it was around Brutus and it could lead to a beating, but for the first time... she was actually worried about hurting Cato's feelings when she blurted out all this stuff, but from her weird cannibalism remark in History class to the question she had just asked him, she couldn't stop it at all around for Cato, and she had absolutely no idea why it kept happening to her when she was talking to him.

"Why I live with my sister? Well... my mother got married again last year, and I soon found out that my new stepfather had a bit of a problem with-" Cato began, but when he figured out that he was actually answering her question, he cut himself off abruptly. While they had asked many times and if he was actually prepared to open up and tell them he may have, he hadn't even told Glimmer and Marvel about what happened... so why the hell would he start telling Clove; his biggest enemy at school? She could do absolutely anything with the information, whether desirable or not. "Wait, why the fuck am I telling you this shit?!"

"Maybe because I asked." Clove quickly quipped, though she was unable to manage an eye roll. So, Cato had a bit of a secret too. Normally, she would try her very damn hardest to squeeze the secret out of him, but now that she was hiding her own, very serious one that she couldn't afford anyone to squeeze out of her, she had changed her mind... though she had to keep up. Acting. She was getting very good at it. Acting like nothing happened at the party. Acting like she actually wanted and had sex with Brutus willingly. Acting like Brutus was the perfect boyfriend her family and friends always thought he was.

"God, you're even a bitch late at night too. I guess bitches never take breaks." Cato muttered with a small scoff. Clove stared up at her ceiling as she had done earlier and nodded to herself. Yes, she knew she was a bitch. After a binge or deciding to fast for a few days or some time with Brutus, nothing was better than attempting to bash someone's head to dust on the ground and making them feel like absolute shit. It was just her. Every now and then, a thought sneaked in her mind and told her it wouldn't be so bad to change, but she always quickly pushed the thought away and told her mind to shut up. What was the point of trying to change?, was something she often thought. "Now, since you've decided to ask me a nosy question, I should ask you one too. Why are you dating that dick for brain, ugly fuck that only cares about himself Brutus, anyway?"

For the first proper time since she had woken up after the party and realized what Brutus had done to her the night before, she almost laughed at Cato's description of Brutus; an actual laugh too... but she pushed it back. Fat whores don't deserve to laugh, she quickly told herself. If Cato had added 'creepy, freaky, gross and sick,' to his description of Brutus it would be even more perfect, but of course, she kept it all to herself.

"Well.." Clove sighed. The story of why she and Brutus started dating probably wouldn't give too much away; or potentially lead him to her secret, and since she was also somehow starting to form an 'attachment' to their phone conversation and didn't want it to end, she decided to tell him anyway. "His parents and mine have been playing squash with each other at the country club-"

"Oh yes, the country club. Just a casual reminder that while I live in the average part of town, you live up in the shitty place I like to call The Gallery of Snobs, right?" Cato blurted out. Clove actually did roll her eyes this time.

"Shut up and let me tell my story." Clove muttered in return, while she had to admit she liked the name; it reminded her a lot of almost everyone around her. Ha. The Gallery of Snobs. When Cato remained quiet, she let a little smirk grow on her lips, and then continued to speak again. "So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, my parents and Brutus's have been playing squash together at our local country club for about two years now, and while I sometimes saw Brutus around school because he's the sports star or whatever and he's Gloss's best friend, we didn't really talk... until our parents introduced us to each other properly... and kind of made us start to date. Yeah.. and since we had such a strong connection.. we've been together ever since." She said, mostly honestly, with a few little lies. She hated her parents more than ever for getting her in a relationship with Brutus. Would they still love him so much if they knew what he had done at the party... would they believe her?

"That explains a lot." Cato simply said. "Strong connection, huh?" He couldn't help but notice that most times in the hallways when he saw them, Clove always was looking, or failing to hide in his eyes that when Brutus touched her, she wanted to die. Maybe he was just reading too much into it?

"Yeah." Clove mumbled, continuing to lie. "Maybe we don't like having our relationship on display like all the stereotypical popular people." Of course, Brutus had no problem with grabbing her ass in the hallways or almost making out with her in front of the whole school.. but it was only the desirable parts of the relationship that were put on display. The slaps, the punches, all of the times he did and continued to threaten her... they were always when he was confident that they were alone.

"I highly doubt that either of you have a romantic bone in your bodies." Cato said in reply, and Clove almost laughed. He was right. The thought of actually loving someone just seemed weird... and unnatural, for her... and Brutus? He was self explanatory. "You're both sex crazed and cold as fuck, right?" He blurted out, though didn't exactly regret it. Clove stared down at her blankets. Cato must have heard all the shit Brutus was spreading about what happened about the party at school.

"Very funny." Clove growled, unable to stop herself. She wished she could defend herself more, but that would give way too much away. Just as she was about to continue to speak, a new voice entered her ears that didn't belong to herself, or Cato.

"Mum! Clove is on the phone and she's making me unable to sleep!" Marley screamed, making Clove scowl. Of course, when 'her highness' wasn't happy, her mother would do something. It had always been that. Marley was the baby of the family and could do no wrong in her mother's eyes, and Clove absolutely hated it.

"Clove, get off the phone! You know that Marley has sleeping problems!" Clove's mother yelled, making her roll her eyes. 'Sleeping problems' really meant that Marley was a light sleeper that would take any opportunity to bitch at Clove, or at least that was how she saw it.

"I have to go. The sister and the mother from hell have decided to make their rounds." Clove muttered, making her words louder on purpose. Quickly, she added something else half heartedly. She couldn't let Cato get any ideas. "Bye. It was not a pleasure speaking to you."

"Right back at you." Cato rolled his eyes, and then hung up.

Once she heard him hang up, Clove let a small, soft sigh escape her lips, staring up at her ceiling. While she knew it was stupid... she felt kind of empty as soon as the conversation was over, but she couldn't help it. She knew deep down that Cato was kind of growing on her, but she would never admit it out loud. She actually let her eyes flutter shut as she reviewed over the conversation in her mind, and when she drifted off, it was the first night since waking up after Cashmere's party that she was actually able to sleep peacefully.

xxxx


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I can't believe this story is already at over 500 views. Thank you to those who have been reading so far :)**

**A M4D TE4-P4RTY: I never really considered a Gloss plot before you reviewed, so thank you for inspiring me to come up with something for him. I know his plot isn't much at the moment, but it will get better as the chapters go on.**

**Hannah: Thank you for reviewing :) I wanted to publish the chapters one at a time again so I'd have time to start writing the next chapter as I edited the prewritten ones, but I've finally caught up, so I hope you enjoy.**

**Guest: I'm glad you like my writing. I don't have an updating schedule, but I try to update as much as I can, while trying to alternate updates between my other story 'Lasting Scars,' which is for the Divergent fandom. **

Chapter Six

Peeta awoke exactly where he had passed out the night before; on the floor of the living room. Before he even attempted to peel himself off the floor, knowing that would be a very painful experience, he listened out for any noises that meant his mother was still around. He couldn't hear her snores from her bedroom, or the scuffle of her slippers going down the halls, or the sound of running water from the shower nor the gurgling sound of the coffee machine, so he suspected he would be in the all clear. She was probably at a job interview of her own, though Peeta wondered if they would be able to see through her fake nice act.

Slowly, Peeta attempted to peel himself off the floor, the metallic taste and smell of blood filling his mouth and nostrils. He tried to stay as quiet as he possibly could just in case his mother was being exceptionally quiet that morning, but a groan and a wince poured from his mouth as soon as he stood. Even though he knew he should have been used to it by now, the pain was almost indescribable. He couldn't go to school like this, he just couldn't. They didn't have painkillers at home and even if he was able to buy some for himself, he knew even a walk to the pharmacy would be extremely painful and he would raise suspicion. If a walk to the pharmacy, which was only three streets away, could raise suspicion, how could he get through six hours of school?

Peeta knew three things if he wanted to skip school today. One: he had to get out of the house as soon as possible, because if his mother came back and found him at home, things, or more specifically his injuries, would worsen considerably. Two: he had to go somewhere his mother most likely wouldn't be going or pass by. And three: he had to be back just at right right time as to not get his mother suspicious. He swallowed thickly and very slowly walked down the halls. He could do it..

He took some clothes from his bedroom that he was sure would hide all of his injuries and then slipped into the shower, shutting his blue eyes tightly and trying his very hardest not to make any more shouts of pain escape his lips as the water dripped down his bloody, almost torn up back. Blood poured down the drain as the water did, and he gripped the taps tightly to try and keep himself quiet.

Sometimes, the morning after the beatings hurt more than the actual beatings themselves, not just because of the stinging when it came to cleansing his wounds, but because his thoughts had a field had he done to make his mother hate him so much? It hadn't been his fault that his parents relationship had fallen apart. Even before, his mother had made it very obvious that she had wished that Peeta had never been born, but she had only started with using violence once his father was gone. Why had his father left him here with his mother? Did he hate him too?

Peeta frowned and turned off the taps, grabbing a towel and stepping out of the shower. His father didn't matter now. Sometimes, he wondered how he could still love him after leaving him here and at other times, all he wanted to do was actually have the guts to call him up when his mother wasn't at home and tell him he absolutely despised him, but of course, he never did. Did he even care? Peeta had sent him a letter ages ago, detailing everything that was going on in his life and how wrong it was, but all he got in response was a letter from his father saying that he was sorry before going into describing his new life, and the fact that his new wife was pregnant.

After that, he had almost given up hope. He sent back a few letters of fake happiness and in a way, he was actually kind of glad that his mother had found out and stopped him from writing back. It wasn't like his father would care anyway, right?

Trying to push the thoughts of a father he would probably never see again from his mind, Peeta staggered into his bedroom to look for his rucksack. After washing the lashes, the pain wasn't as bad... but not by very much, still not enough to go to school and not raise suspicion. If he just walked to the park of whatever and stayed seated, there wouldn't be any suspicion at all... hopefully. Once he grabbed his rucksack, a 'pity present' as he called it from his Dad before he left and something he managed to hide from his mother (he only kept the rucksack because it was useful), he headed to the kitchen.

Peeta searched the cupboards and selected a few things to take with him to eat; if he cooked breakfast his mother could walk in at any moment and he had no money to buy anything once he got out, selecting two energy bars from a box that was wedged at the back of a shelf, something he hoped his mother had forgotten about, and an apple and banana from the fruit bowl, carefully arranging the fruit to hopefully make it look like none were taken, before heading to his final destination before heading out: the living room.

Carefully, listening out for the rattle of keys or the heels of boots outside meaning his mother's return, Peeta lowered himself onto the floor, biting down on his lips harshly to suppress a strangled noise of pain from leaving his lips, trying to instead focus on what he needed to do. He reached out a hand and ran it along the carpet, his mind thinking about how many times he had been thrown down on to it, how many times he had cleaned the blood stains out of it (something he would probably have to do again this afternoon when he came home and faced his mother) until he got to the loose part.

As careful as he had lowered himself down onto the floor, Peeta tugged the loose carpet aside and fiddled with the floorboards which were also loose, reaching down into his hands met with it. Art supplies, glorious, glorious art supplies. Charcoal. Watercolour paints. Paintbrushes. Pencils. A sketchpad. The only money he ever did get before his mother let him go for a job interview was from birthday and holiday cards from his Dad before he stopped writing. Even though a part of him felt selfish and ungrateful, the money he got from the cards was one of the reasons that he kept writing.

He took the sketchpad first, moving the fruit to another section of his rucksack before placing the sketchpad in before grabbing his pencils and an eraser. After that, he hid the art supplies again and headed outside. After a quick peer around the street, seeing his mother nowhere, he nodded to himself and headed out for the park.

A sight at the top of the street, where the houses were even worse caught his eyes. A gold convertible... a very fresh and new looking, shiny gold convertible, something that was very out of place in The Seam, surely it couldn't belong to anyone that lived in his street. That was when he realized who it belonged to as it sped by, splashing a girl with mud... Katniss. Cashmere's convertible.

"Now you match where you live, Catpiss! Enjoy the mud bath!" Cashmere sniggered as she drove by, laughter chorusing through her gold convertible. Peeta frowned. Why did The Dangerous have to be so rude and awful? He wished he could have defended her... but what could he do?

For a moment, he looked over at Katniss, and there and then their eyes met; crystal blue with silvery grey. He was now prepared to go over to her, walk with her and go to school through the pain... but then she broke the gaze and walked off faster than ever.

Peeta sighed lightly. Trying to hold her hand at The Golden Pin hadn't worked out well the night before... but what had he been expecting? The two barely ever talked, so why would she let him? He stopped for awhile and stared at the pavement. Would he ever get closer to her this year?

xxxx

"So, how's things at home going?" Johanna Mason asked Finnick as she noisily chewed an apple, walking inside the gates of Collins High and sitting down on the front steps of the school. As she waited for her friend to reply with something that would most likely be bleak, she noticed a boy standing on a railing and soon attempting a complicated skateboarding trick, failing miserably and falling flat on his face. While it made a laugh come from Johanna, Finnick simply looked away from the boy on the concrete and sighed tiredly. Normally, Finnick would have laughed too, but since the topic of home had come up, he wasn't exactly in the mood for laughter.

"You know how it's going." Finnick mumbled. "Same as it always is. I wake up, they're at work. I go home, they're at work, and just as I'm going to sleep, I hear the sound of a car engine, like it's safe to come home now that they presume that I'll be sleeping." He sighed tiredly again, Johanna sharing the same action. At times she wished she could help him, but at other times, she was so stuck on what she could do that all she actually could do was get angry with them.

Things hadn't always been like what Finnick described with his parents. Up until he was fourteen years old, he had an ordinary and happy life with his parents, things that were now only memories of a better time that he had tried his hardest to push away down into the furthest corners of his mind. It had been an accident. A stupid, simple yet complicated accident that had made his parents ignore him and in his mind, secretly hate them. The most intriguing conversation they ever had was 'what's for dinner?,' and by this point, Finnick was tired of it... but after three years of it, he had no idea how to start fixing it.

"Same shit, different day?" Johanna asked, Finnick nodding. "I don't know why they're so distant, though. What happened wasn't your fault. You didn't know what would be down that short cut..." Finnick rubbed his forehead, trying to get rid of the memories.

"I know, but couldn't Noah see that it wouldn't exactly be the best idea to take that short cut?" Finnick mumbled, staring down at the steps again. He hated talking about what happened with anyone, but it was a little bit easier with Johanna. They both had their problems, and they both had only each other to talk about it with. They couldn't go to no one else; how could they understand like the other did?

"People make stupid decisions all the time, Finnick." Johanna huffed. "Like, why did my parents drive so fast, new business deal or not? Why did my sister run away with that stupid guy? People are idiots, and then, they pay for it. I bet when your parents die miserable and alone in a nursing home because you got out as fast as you could because of how they ignored you, they'll regret it."

Finnick nodded along a little, but his eyes were now on a car that had just pulled up in front of the school. First, a white haired woman came out of the car and opened the door to the passenger side, a girl with reddish brown hair stepping out. After hugging the older woman and watching her drive off, Finnick quickly realised that the girl was Annie. Judging by what he had heard her say at the party, it seemed like she lived with her grandparents. Before he really knew what he was doing, he called out to her.

"Annie!" Finnick yelled out, almost immediately realising that this was a bit of a mistake.

Annie quickly looked around at the shouting of her name, eyes wide. Normally when she was at school and someone yelled out her name, it was either associated with The Dangerous, or something bad... though she knew that both of them weren't exactly that different when it came down to it. When she noticed that it was Finnick that called out her name, she relaxed a little, though nerves still floated around in her stomach. She had forgotten that she was supposed to be sitting with Finnick and Johanna at school today. Would Finnick still like her? Would Johanna like her? Was this a trick? She still wasn't sure. She was sure that the people at school that at least tolerated her, like Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen, just pitied her.

"What are you doing?" Johanna hissed in the boy's ear. "Inviting the mute girl over? She's weird."

"Well, we're both weird, right?" Finnick hissed back. Johanna sighed and looked down. While she did want to punch him for that remark, she couldn't help but note that it was quite true. "And I talked to her yesterday since you weren't here. She's sweet. I told her she could sit with us today. She works in the library. She has pretty much no friends." Johanna sighed and looked at Annie for a moment.

"Fine. Just as a test trial. Then, we'll decide if she's permanent." Johanna decided, and simply because he knew there would be no arguing with someone with such a strong will as Johanna, Finnick nodded, right as the Roll Call bell rang.

"Want to walk to Roll Call with us?" Finnick asked and got up, walking over to Annie, who was even more nervous upon hearing fragments of their conversation. At least they hadn't cast her side yet... Annie nodded. The three began to walk through the hallways to their Roll Call classroom, navigating the hallways rather quickly. Everyone, even the new Year Sevens who had barely even been there a week, knew not to get in Johanna's way, unless they had a death wish.

"So, you want to come to the dark side, huh?" Johanna smirked. "Want to eat lizards and kill puppies?" Noticing Annie's extremely pale face and wide eyes, she let out a loud laugh. "Oh God, I was just kidding!" Finnick cringed slightly.

Annie nodded a little and rubbed her cheeks to try and get some colour back into them. As she took a seat at the back of the classroom with Finnick and Johanna and Miss Trinket marked the roll, calling the names in her way too chipper voice, she wondered if she was just getting herself into something that would end up going nowhere...

xxxx

As soon as the bell to signify the beginning of the first period of the day rang, Gloss felt himself being pulled out of his seat in the middle of the room by Cashmere. For a few minutes he was puzzled, but as soon as he remembered, he had to suppress a groan. This came at the beginning of every year and he hated it.

In either the second or third week of the third term, Cashmere would drag him to the school notice board and together, they'd sign up for teams and clubs. Gloss absolutely hated it. The only thing they didn't do together was the dance team simply because he drew the lime at that, though Cashmere often showed disappointment that he didn't want to do it with her. He had wanted to try out for the football team ever since Year Eight, but that would mean that Cashmere would have to come too... and he just wanted to have something of his own for once.

"So... does anything look good?" Cashmere asked as she scanned the school noticeboard for the club sign up sheets, ignoring the job wanted signs and school news sheets, oblivious to the annoyance of her twin. "You know, there is one male dance team uniform ready if you change your mind." She added, smiling. Before he could stop himself, Gloss rolled his eyes, though Cashmere didn't seem to notice.

"The football team looks good." Gloss accidentally blurted out. Cashmere turned to him and put on a small frown. Gloss stared down at the floor and bit his lip. He felt like an idiot. Why hadn't he attempted to break out of the twin mould when they had first started high school? He knew that if they were the same gender, they'd probably be stuck in matching outfits knowing Cashmere. Still, he couldn't bring himself to get mad at her about this... well, most of the time.

"Gloss... you know I hate football." Cashmere sighed. "Come on, why can't you just join the dance team with me? They'll accept you, Clove is the captain, remember?" Gloss frowned to himself. While they were friends, the word 'accept' just felt wrong to be put in the same sentence as Clove's name.

"I'd still rather not." Gloss frowned, and before he knew what he was doing, he had picked up the blue pen and signed himself up for football try outs.

"Gloss! I thought we were going to do things together again!" Cashmere protested. Once he was finished signing his name, he put the pen back in it's original spot and then turned to her, frowning.

"Maybe I don't want us to be a package deal any more." Gloss snapped. "I don't want to be on the dance team, I don't want you on the football team, I just want to be myself and have something to myself now! I'm sick of it being 'Gloss and Cashmere.' For awhile, I just want to be Gloss!" Cashmere stepped back, looking at him in shock. He had never expressed any protest before about them doing things together... why now?

Cashmere sighed and watched her brother walk down the halls to class, leaving her leaning against the notice board, alone. Who could she talk to about this? She didn't exactly go to Enobaria with her problems as she was nowhere near helpful most of the time, Brutus was Brutus, and judging by how weird she was being lately and Clove had enough on her plate to deal with to listen to her problems. The person she normally went with to her problems was Gloss... and now Gloss was her problem...

xxxx

By the time lunch rolled around, Delly was completely on edge. School was already a nightmare in itself, but today had been made even worse by the fact that Peeta wasn't there to make it more bearable. As soon as she sat down in Roll Call and didn't see Peeta there, she began to panic, but tried to reassure herself that he'd just be running a bit late. As soon as she got to period two and Peeta still wasn't there, she was starting to really panic. Peeta wasn't there and The Dangerous were really taking advantage of it... she was desperate for him to return the school.

Someone else had also been on edge all day, and that was Clove. Between trying to get away from Brutus and Cashmere and Gloss's fighting, she felt like she wanted to explode or at least run as far as she possibly could from it all. It didn't help that she was absolutely starving either. After yesterday's binge in the change rooms after Brutus had confronted her, she had stuck to her promise not to eat. She had made up a lie she felt too ill to eat dinner the night before, and left the house before her mother could as her what she wanted for breakfast. While the sight of all her friend's food was in a way tormenting her, in another way she was kind of enjoying the feeling of starving herself. In her mind, she deserved it.

Delly was too busy looking around for a place to sit to realise what would be coming next. Everyone else seemed to have their little groups. There was The Dangerous, of course, sitting the the centre of the courtyard at two picnic tables they had put together, she noticed the handsome Finnick that was in her class sitting with his best friend Johanna on the steps by the basketball courts with the mute girl Annie, and she also noticed Cato, Glimmer and Marvel sitting under a tree, Cato saying something that was apparently so funny that it made Marvel's drink come out of his nose. Delly sighed. In a way, she was envious of them. They were all such close friends, the bullying of The Dangerous didn't seem to affect them, and to her, never in a million years could they have any problems... though there was a lot underneath their exteriors that they would do a lot to keep secret from the eyes of Collins High's most nosy.

Suddenly, Delly felt herself bumping into a person, and a horrible squelching sound. Cheeks flushing red, she looked up to apologise the person that she had just spilt her lunch on, but soon, all the colour was sucked out of her face. No. Oh no. It couldn't have just happened. She had just bumped into and split her lunch all over Clove, who had been venting her frustrations out on Delly all day.

"You fat bitch!" Clove said through gritted teeth, her face heating up in both anger and embarrassment. In the back of her mind, she knew that her constant bullying and harassing of Delly was wrong, but she couldn't help but use her as a punching bag, letting out all of the anger and hatred that Brutus's actions had helped put into her. If what she did to herself and what Brutus did to her made her feel disgusting, why not make someone else feel disgusting as well, just to take the pain away for just a little while? "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Didn't you?" She stepped closer to the blonde girl, and she knew in a second, she would probably be on the ground.

"No, no, I didn't. I swear..." Delly stammered, trying to step back. "It was an accident, I didn't pay attention to what I was doing and-" She continued, trying to explain, but quickly, she was cut off by Clove's fist making contact with her stomach, sending her to the ground. At first, Delly wrapped her arms around her stomach to try and ease the pain, but when she realised that Clove would probably target her face next, she wrapped her arms around her head and shut her eyes tightly, bracing herself. for the pain.

Clove's words continued to get increasingly nastier as she kicked her, in the legs, in the stomach, in the back, in the hand. You're a disease. A parasite. No one wants you here. Delly shut her eyes and let a tear roll down her cheek, unaware that the words that were coming out of the girl that was attacking her's mouth had also been yelled at her many times before. No one seemed to care that she was on the ground. Would the teachers even care?

An unlikely voice came to break up the fight. A flowing black skirt invaded the corners of Delly's eye.

"Clove, leave her alone!" Glimmer Goldheart's voice shocked both girls, Delly just a little bit more. Glimmer Goldheart... coming to the rescue of Delly Cartwright? It seemed like a joke instead of reality... but there it was. Delly wasn't being kicked any more. Clove's attention was now on Glimmer.

"Stay out of this, Goldheart." Clove snapped at the green eyed girl. "Go back to your retarded friends." She added. A small feeling of pain crept up inside her once she realised that she had also insulted Cato, who was now growing on her, when she had said this, but she quickly pushed it away. It wasn't time to bring up stuff like this.

"Why are you beating the shit out of her? Over a stained shirt? I think you should be more worried about that more permanent stain on your body. Oh wait, I forgot. You can't wash out filthy bitch." Glimmer snapped. Without hesitation, Clove slapped her across the face. Clove had always been jealous of what Glimmer had in a way, and this wasn't exactly helping.

"Shut up. You're just jealous of what I have. You're just upset that you let yourself get so fat so I kicked you off the dance team." Clove retorted. She knew it wasn't true at all, but she wanted it, no, needed it, to hurt. What she got instead was the sight of Glimmer's green eyes flushed with rage. As Glimmer went to slap Clove back, her arm ws grabbed... by Cato.

"I think you should leave." Cato said harshly to Clove, and in a way, she felt betrayed, even though she started it. Like their phone conversation, while not the nicest, had never even happened.. but what had she expected?

While normally she would have fought against him and settled her score and given Delly what she thought she deserved, Clove suddenly just felt powerless. With a small, almost barely there nod, she walked off and held back her tears, the words she heard behind her not helping.

"Come on, Delly." Glimmer's voice was no longer snappy or rude, it was soft, like the actual voice of a true friend. "I'll get you cleaned up. I have some spare clothes for emergencies... I'll make you look even more beautiful."

Once she was sure no one was looking, Clove wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Would there ever be anyone there to do the same for her?

No, she told herself, believing each word she kept telling herself. Fat, ugly whores don't deserve to feel beautiful. You're a waste.

Clove nodded to herself, as if there was actually someone right in front of her telling her, and at that moment, decided to skip her meals tomorrow as well.

xxxx


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you to M4D TE4-P4RTY to reviewing! Also, just a note for this chapter - Byte is meant to be the District Three boy from Katniss's first games. **

Chapter Seven

After the drama that had occurred at lunch, Clove, Cato, Delly and Glimmer were spending their sixth period in the office. Clove was sitting in one of the red plastic chairs, flicking a rubber band she had pulled out of her ponytail harshly against her wrist, while Cato, angry that she had slapped Glimmer over telling what he was sure at that point was the 'truth' about her made mocking remarks about the tear stains that he noticed on her face, Delly was sitting at a small table writing a statement about what happened and Glimmer was sitting in a corner of the office, thinking about how she would give Delly a make over while she stole glances at the window, where Marvel had his face pressed up to the glass, making stupid expressions. He was meant to be in class, but instead had decided to try and cheer the blonde girl up.

"Clove Taylor?" An office lady with a plain expression and her hair tied up in what looked like a painfully uncomfortable knot poked her head out of her cubicle. Clove looked over at her with a bored expression on her face, waiting for the rest of the information. "Principal Paylor wants to see you now." Quickly, the woman disappeared back into her cubicle, returning to typing madly on her keyboard.

Clove nodded even though the office lady was gone and stood up quickly, rubbing her eyes and her cheeks to try and get rid of the tear marks. She knew, even though the school had a no tolerance policy for violence (though most of the students had a strange fascination for it) that she wouldn't be suspended. Her parents had money, and with money came donations to the school. With donations to the school came connections... and with connections came lighter punishments. Clove wouldn't have minded if she was suspended. It would give her a chance to get away from Brutus, unless her parents invited him over for dinner.

"Going to try and cry yourself out of this one, bitch?" Cato sneered at her as Clove began to head into Principal Paylor's office. While Clove just gave him a glare and an eye roll in response, in a small way, she felt a little betrayed. Even though she tried not to admit it to herself, she was slowly starting to let herself accept that he was growing on her... but now? She didn't know what to think now, but she wouldn't tell any one. If Brutus knew, she could almost feel the bruises on her stomach and arms already starting to form, and with dance practice starting up soon and the uniforms showing everything, she couldn't afford any marks on her body.

"Go fuck yourself." Clove growled at him in response as she went to head into Principal Paylor's office. She hated it when people noticed her weaknesses, and she hated it even more when she accidentally let her guard down and her weaknesses spilled out. In her mind, while she secretly felt that she would tear herself to pieces at any given moment deep down, on the surface, she kept on telling herself she was fine. She could handle what Brutus had done to her. She could handle all of his abuse. She could handle starving herself; she could stop whenever she wanted. It was fine.

"Clove Taylor, language!" Principal Paylor scolded, having heard the girl's words outside. As she stepped into the office, Clove simply gave an eye roll as a glare was returned from the principal, though it didn't make her care much more about the situation. She perched herself on the edge of a red and yellow wooden chair in front of Principal Paylor's desk and waited for her to speak, just as Delly quietly knocked on the door.

"P-Principal Paylor, I finished my statement." Delly mumbled, handing over the piece of paper filled with her neat writing. Principal Paylor nodded, and then motioned for Delly to sit next to Clove. Nervously, Delly sat beside her and waited, biting her lip as hard as she could she she felt Clove's elbow jab harshly into her ribs.

"Don't think I didn't see that, Miss Taylor." Principal Paylor told the dark haired girl icily. In frustration and also secretly hoping if she pushed the right buttons she would end up getting suspended, she elbowed Delly even harder. "Now, how about we get started on trying to figure out the problem... without the needless violence." The two girls nodded and stared at Principal Paylor's desk, waiting. "Delly, what exactly happened at lunch?"

"I was just looking for somewhere to eat lunch, and I guess I got a bit too caught up in my thoughts." Delly began. Clove knew she had a problem with her temper, but she didn't bother with wanting to fix that. With her bad temper doubled with the hatred of humiliation, that had been what truly made her explode. She wouldn't admit it to any one though, of course. "And then... I spilled my lunch on Clove. I went to say sorry and stuff, but she accused me of doing it on purpose and then started to kick me and punch me until Glimmer came over and... yeah.' She stared down at her lap, hoping that Clove wouldn't come after her after school.

"Has Clove every attacked you physically before?" Principal Paylor asked. Delly thought back to last year and the last week at school. The sneaky kicks under the desk, a sneaky pull of the hair in sport, an attempted, and normally very successful try at tripping her. A push down the stairs. Bruises, cuts, scratches, all things Clove knew well herself.

"No." Delly lied. She already knew Clove was still angry. She didn't want to get bruises all over her arms, torso and legs the minute she left the 'safe' confines of Collins High.

"Clove, do you have anything to add to this?" Principal Paylor asked. "I want your side too." Clove was now sitting on her hands, as she was sure if she didn't try to stop herself, she would have already thrown Principal Paylor's vase full of daises out the window in anger.

She hated how Delly was so innocent, and all of it true. At no point in her life did she ever think that she would have wanted to be innocent again like a child, but now, she did. When the worst thing a man could to to a woman, vice versa or anyone for that matter, would be to yell at them or take their toys. Where she believed that there would be no one out to get her. Where she believed her parents when they said no one would ever hurt her. Before, she cringed at the memories, but now, she regretted every minute that she had taken for granted. Of course, this would be yet another thing she would never tell anyone.

"Clove? Are you okay?" Delly's soft voice interrupted her thoughts. God, she hated how caring she was! Even after she had beaten the blonde girl up, and would probably have done a lot of damage if Glimmer hadn't ran in and stopped her, Delly could still be kind. How did she do it? By now, Clove was sure that Delly wasn't able to hate any one, no matter what they did to her or the people around her.

"I'm fine." Clove growled, not caring about how snappy she got in front of Principal Paylor. "Yeah. Well, like what the dumb girl said, she walked into me and spilled her lunch all over me... and I'm sure it was on purpose! She's so jealous of me, because I have everything she wants!" Principal Paylor frowned, her brown eyes scanning over Delly's sheet of paper. She knew Delly was much too nice to do that, no matter how rude Clove was to her.

"Clove.. I swear, I didn't spill my lunch on you on purpose. I'm clumsy... and I'm sorry." Delly mumbled, and the words felt slightly forced. She didn't want to apologise for something she didn't even do.

"Sorry my-" Clove began snappily, but was quickly cut off by Principal Paylor.

"Clove, enough. Delly, you may go. I need to talk to Clove alone for a moment." Principal Paylor said. Delly nodded and got up, stepping over the foot Clove had stretched out to try and trip her with, and took a seat back with Glimmer, actually managing to laugh when she noticed Marvel being yelled at for his dumb face thing in the window.

"So, am I being suspended?" Clove asked, trying to hide the light in her eyes which showed her hopefulness. She needed a break from being with Brutus, seeing his cold eyes and feeling his touch that made her feel disgusting inside and out... but in her mind, did she really deserve it? _Of course not, you dumb, fat whore. I'm going to add selfish to the list now. You're nothing but a filthy pig. You should be dead. _The thoughts came out in the voice of Brutus, and slowly, she wrapped an arm around her stomach. She was going to puke all over Principal Paylor's neat desk in a minute.

"Miss Taylor, you should know by now that our school has a strict no bullying and no violence policy..." Clove almost scoffed. It was true, but it was hardly ever put in place thoroughly. All the time, and not just in The Dangerous, people were going against the policy. On the first Wednesday back, she noticed Cato throw a Year Seven boy in the garbage bin. She had to admit it had been kind of funny to watch, especially when the stupid kid started screaming. "But, I will be giving you a chance to redeem yourself for your actions. However, for the next week, you will have to spend your lunch break in here, by yourself, doing a few jobs for me."

"Fine, Principal Paylor." Clove said, trying to play it off as annoyance, though really, she didn't mind. It wasn't suspension, but still it would mean her time with Brutus would be slightly more limited.

"You may go now." Principal Paylor gave her a nod as the bell went. Clove nodded in return and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulders before walking out of the office.

She wrapped her jacket around herself tightly and began to walk up the path out of the school gates. It was still only February, the weather extremely warm and rainy days quite rare, but she wore a jacket anyway. Wearing layers made her feel protected and safe, as if she could hide as much as she could from Brutus and other prying eyes, no matter what funny looks she got. She was dreading when dance team practice would start up next week, which meant crop tops and skirts as short as they could get before the school stepped in. It didn't exactly help that last year, when the team was picking the new uniforms, she had been ill... and Cashmere had asked Brutus to help her pick on behalf of Clove.

"So, did you get suspended, or is the school continuing with it's string of blatant favouritism?" The cold voice of Cato behind her made her focus properly again. Again, his voice sounded different. Like when they had talked the night before after an accidentally sent text message, it seemed to be kind of understanding, masked by a thin sheet of not giving a damn. Now... it just seemed colder than ever. But what was Clove expecting? Of course he'd be angry after she slapped one of his best friends.

"It's not called favouritism, idiot. It's called a second chance." Clove snapped, trying to sound as bitchy as she could. She felt betrayed in a way, as stupid as it was. Just as they were starting to grow on each other. What she told him was a lie, in some aspects. She knew that Principal Paylor's 'second' chance was mostly related to her parents donations to the school.

"Second chance? Seriously?" Cato scoffed as Clove began to walk again. "Why would they give you a second chance unless there was something else involved? I'm sure Principal Paylor has better things to do than to constantly deal with a crazy slut that-"

While the two had never, ever been very nice to each other; the nicest they had probably been to each other would have been on the phone the night before or in class getting the assignment for History, Clove have never expected that to come out of his mouth. But it was true, wasn't it? Even the disgusting lies that Brutus had been spreading had even reached what she classed as the 'freaks' of the school. The two words rang in her ears, and tears were now close to filling her eyes. Crazy. Slut.

"Shut up!" Clove yelled at him, almost wincing as she heard it come out. It wasn't the dangerous, extremely rude tone that she was going for. It sounded broken and revealing, something she couldn't afford. She watched a smirk appear on his lips. "You don't know me. Just leave me alone!" Cato laughed and shook his head.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Cato smirked. "You're a crazy bitch. You're past the point of saving." He rolled his eyes and began to walk away, in the direction of the school parking lot where the other exit was located. Clove clenched her fists and quickly walked out the gates.

What did he even mean by that; past the point of saving? She was fine. If she kept telling herself that, it would be fine. It had to be...

xxx

Katniss leaned against the front wall of Collins High, raising an eyebrow when she saw Clove Taylor storm out looking even angrier than usual. She had heard that she had beaten up the girl Katniss called too nice for her own good, Delly Cartwright, at the second lunch break, but she couldn't help but think judging by her face that it was something much more. Thinking of Clove made her think of Prim's new friend... her younger sister Marley. Prim wouldn't stop going on and on about how awesome it had been going to the mall with her and her buying her some new clothes and jewellery, so much that for the first time she had almost forgotten to attempt (and fail) to give their mother breakfast.

"Katniss, Katniss!" The dark haired girl heard her sister call out to her, and immediately, all thoughts of her sister's new friend disappeared and a smile appeared on her face. Somehow, just seeing and hearing Prim made everything feel like it might just be a little bit better.

"Hey, Prim." Katniss smiled as she began to walk home with her younger sister. "How was your day? Did you do anything interesting?" She asked, just wanting to make some conversation. The idea of silence on a day like this didn't really sit well with her for some reason.

"Oh... you know, taking notes, sitting through some classes, the usual." Prim smiled a little, looking around at the tress as they walked. "But I am excited for Friday! And not just because it's the weekend..." Prim said excitedly, sing songing the words with a bounce in her step. Whatever it was making her so happy, Katniss couldn't help but let her smile grow a little.

"What is it?" Katniss asked. That was when it hit her, and she tried and struggled to keep her smile on her face, just for Prim. With Marley as her 'best friend' now, and her older sister's position of power in the school's social structure, she was starting to figure out what it was that Prim could be so excited now. _Please don't be going to try out for the dance team... please don't be going to try out for the dance team... please don't be going to try out for the dance team..._

"Marley, Rue and I are going to try out on the dance team on Friday!" Prim burst out excitedly, and quickly, Katniss gripped herself into keeping a fake smile on her lips. She hated to imagine Prim becoming a part of The Dangerous. At first, it seemed ridiculous, Prim was too kind and gentle to be one of them... but with the right words and the right influences, she knew Prim could dig herself into a deep, deep hole, especially if Marley was as persuasive as her big sister...

"That's... great." Katniss said, trying to sound her hardest as if she was telling the truth. What could she say? Prim was her own person, she had her own mind. If she wanted to do it, she could easily do it, no matter what she tried to do.

She noticed Prim flash her a bright, almost proud smile, the type of smile that Katniss wasn't even able to try and fake it back. She couldn't let Prim end up a mindless, almost plastic, covered in make up zombie. She just had to trust that her sister would be able to resist Marley's persuasiveness if she possessed the same power. She stared at the ground, not wanting to talk any more, just waiting to get home and hoping that she'd get news from The Golden Pin tomorrow. It was weird not having a job for her, it made her feel like she was being lazy.

Only when she got back on to her street did Katniss start to wake up again. At first, the street was just how she liked it and didn't get enough of - silent... but then she started to hear a string of loud smashes and other noises from a house in the road, and when she looked around, she realized that once again, the noises were coming from Peeta's home. Trying to play it off as kneeling down to tie her shoes, she started to try and listen.

"What's all this in your bag?!" Katniss heard the voice of a woman that immediately made her wine. It sounded maybe even a little worse than nails on a chalk board, especially if you had to listen to it for long time. It had to be his mother. She had heard it that day with the bakery and the loaves, yelling at what she thought was Peeta's father for dropping dough on the floor. All she had hoped was that the woman wouldn't find her stealing the loaves... she sounded like she would be absolutely horrible to deal with.

"Just... just some school stuff..." Peeta said, and immediately, Katniss noticed hints of strength and bravery in his voice, something she admired in a person, though it was constantly battling with fear. School. Katniss was sure Peeta hadn't been there today...

"School stuff? Where's the rest of your books? And where did you get this bag?!" Again, Katniss winced at his mother's yelling. How could Peeta deal with it all the time?

"My... my books... were collected for marking. And the bag... I bought it with my money." Peeta lied. Immediately, he regretted it. Normally, he chose his words correctly, but for once, he had slipped up, and now, it wouldn't go by without him paying the price for it in some way.

What came next made Katniss's eyes widen and her almost fall onto the pavement. Suddenly, all these screams came from the house, the words something she couldn't identify at all, as well as the sounds of smashing glass and the ripping of paper. Before she could even register what she was doing, Katniss was just running, running and running until she got home, sliding down against the door with a small thump. Her mother, who was knitting again, barely noticed, and Prim was too busy telling her, even though Katniss doubted she was listening, about her day.

Katniss rubbed her forehead and let out a soft sigh. She was very sure on what it was... and even though she was not Peeta's biggest fan, she hated every idea of it.

xxx

"Checkmate." Finch smirked, watching one of the other two members of the Chess Team, a Year Seven boy only known to everyone by the name of Byte, give her a nod with eyes wide in surprise at how fast she had managed to win the game. Thresh smiled at them as he watched from his seat. Finch hadn't been joking when she wanted to see his Chess Team, and soon she joined, and just as soon, she won her first match.

"You're good." Byte smiled as they began to put the chess board back to it's original state. "You have to give me some pointers some time. It's nice to go against someone that's more of a challenge. No offence, Thresh." Thresh gave the boy a shrug, not caring much.

"None taken, Byte." Thresh rolled his eyes and stood up, slinging his bag over his left shoulder. He had to admit, Finch was the best chess player he'd ever seen (well, in person) and he was looking forward to having a match with her when the Chess Team met up again. "But you'll have to ask Finch for those chess tips some other time... it's four thirty, and we were meant to be out of here fifteen minutes ago."

"Damn! I missed my bus!" Byte exclaimed, grabbing his bag, saying a quick goodbye and then rushing out of the doors of the library. Judging by how fast he went, Thresh was surprised he didn't hit the doors face first. Out of the whole school, or at least those who knew him, Thresh was sure that he and Finch were the only ones that didn't hate Byte. He even saw Cato Fielding shove him in a trash can. The reason was simple: Byte was that kid that would always enthusiastically remind the teacher about homework... and Cato just liked scaring the new kids.

"Well, he's certainly something." Finch smirked as the two tucked in the chairs by the school library's large chessboard and the headed for the library doors as the younger student had done a few minutes earlier. Thresh nodded with a smirk on his lips as well. Whether that 'something' Finch was referring to was good or bad, he didn't know. He had noticed a lot of mystery about Finch.

Finch wasn't one to have friends. Friends would eat your food, stab you in the back, steal your ideas and slow you down in her mind, but she had actually found a friend in Thresh. The two shared a lot of the same interests, were practically loners, and when they walked home from school together on Finch's first day, they actually found out that the two lived in the same street... right next door to one another.

"So, what made you move down here?" Thresh asked Finch as they began to walk home together. He wanted to get to know Finch, but she had such an air of mystery about her that he doubted that she'd really tell him much. He was nothing to brag about himself; he didn't like speaking about his life either, but he could at least try and see if she would talk to him.

"My father wanted to open a bookshop. For some reason, it's always been his dream or something. We found a shop around the area for lease, and we headed down here." Finch shrugged. She wasn't used to people asking her real questions; usually they were smug, sarcastic, and extremely mean spirited. "There's a cafe built onto the back, and my mother makes scones and stuff." Finch was about to add 'it's the perfect atmosphere to play chess in,' but she didn't want to say too much yet. While she did like Thresh and to some degree Byte too, she wasn't sure if she trusted them enough to meet her... strange family.

"Sounds nice." Thresh nodded. "Maybe I'll take a look one day." He added, just to be polite. Finch smiled a little and waved him goodbye as she got to her house, Thresh continuing on to the one next door.

Thresh sighed softly as he reached the doorstep, pulling his keys from the pocket of his school shorts. While it would be nice to check of the place Finch's mother and father owned, he probably wouldn't get a chance... unless he wanted to get kicked out due to the noise of most of his siblings.

With their mother gone, unable to handle the stress of six children in his mind, (Thresh included) and his father working all the time to support them, Thresh was normally left being the parent. He was the oldest, then it was Rue, who often helped him, their nine year old sister Rose, seven year old twins Field and Lily, and then their youngest sibling, three year old brother Root. Their mother had named all of them, and loved nature and agriculture... which definitely reflected in their names. On more than one occasion had Thresh come home to a crying Field, who got bullied constantly because of his name by the boys in his class.

"Hi, Thresh." Rue greeted her brother warmly, but he couldn't help but notice a flicker of worry in her almost golden eyes. "I picked up the younger ones because I knew you had Chess Team... and I found this on the kitchen counter when I went to grab a snack."

Thresh held back a groan of annoyance, knowing it wasn't Rue's fault, and scanned the piece of paper.

_Dear Thresh and Rue, _

_I have had to go away on an important business trip to the other side of the country again, and I apologise for not being able to have said goodbye. I know you both can handle the household duties and your younger siblings while I'm gone, and it will most likely only be for two weeks. I have some money put away for groceries and household needs in the bottom of my wardrobe. _

_See you in two weeks,_

_- Your Father_

Thresh tried his very hardest not to rip up the paper into tiny little pieces and instead placed it in his pocket with a frown. Of course, his Dad was gone again. While he knew it was kind of selfish, all Thresh wanted was to be able to be a teenager, even if it was just once...

xxx


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I would like to say a huge thank you to A M4D TE4-P4RTY for making the awesome new cover for the story! **

**CWFANDOM8: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!**

**A M4D TE4-P4RTY: Last chapter was meant to have a Gloss scene in it, but it wasn't that good, so I decided to scrap it and go for the scene I put in this chapter instead. Also, I'd like to say that you've inspired me to kind of give Brutus more background, which starts to appear faintly in this chapter. As always, I loved your review. **

Chapter Eight

Normally Cashmere loved Friday, much like most of her fellow students at Collins High. Friday meant two days of freedom and fun for her, and she normally loved every minute of it... but while the weekend was still coming, her Friday wasn't as enjoyable as most others were for one reason - this Friday was the Friday where the school's team try outs would be held. It wasn't usually a bother for her, in fact, it was normally fun. She'd come to the dance team try outs, make a dozen or so Year Seven kids cry, mutter what would be in Clove standard compliments for those luckiest, and finally accept a few people after making a dozen or so more students, Year Seven or not this time, cry, and it was actually quite hilarious.

Now, however, she was just annoyed about the team try out Friday, and it certainly poured into her day. It seemed to be going on forever, all her thoughts going into Gloss and his try out for the football team; he hadn't changed his mind. She wasn't exactly angry about the football try outs exactly, she was angry that Gloss hadn't, or felt like he couldn't talk to her about it. She was going to ask him, but she was too angry to approach him. Since the time Gloss had yelled at her at the sign up sheets, she had been giving him the silent treatment... not that Gloss had made many attempts to talk to her.

"Is he winning or what?" Cashmere huffed at Enobaria, who had agreed to come to the try outs with Cashmere at lunch. Cashmere sighed softly as she looked back at the field, trying to find her brother again. Football was something that Cashmere found boring, pointless and to be avoided at all costs, and at first she wasn't even going to come, but them Enobaria instilled a bit of a bitterness in her, saying she she should go just to watch Gloss fail... but judging by the impressed look on one of her best friend's face, that wasn't exactly the case.

"They aren't exactly playing an actual game, Cash." Enobaria rolled her eyes, watching as Gloss made a pretty good tackle on the field. She liked and knew more about football than Cashmere, but she wouldn't call herself a fanatic by any means. Normally, she could just take it or leave it. "But, I will say one thing - if they were playing a real game, he probably would be doing a good job of helping his team to win."

"Not exactly helping, Enobaria. I thought you told me that we should come to see him _fail." _Cashmere muttered to her friend. She knew that she wasn't being fair to her brother, but Enobaria's bitterness easily could wrap around people's minds. She knew if it was her trying out for something and Gloss watching from the sidelines, he'd be supporting her one hundred percent... and he wouldn't care that they were doing something different either. She frowned as she found Gloss on the field again. Why had he suddenly changed now?

"Well, I've never seen him play before. If he just came out of the blue with 'I want to try out for the football team' like you said, probably trying to stick it to you for something or whatever, I didn't think he'd be good!" Enobaria sighed. Cashmere rubbed her forehead and moved down a seat to be closer to her friend. She was right.

Currently unknown to his sister and her friend's presence on the field, Gloss was putting in all his energy on the field, hoping desperately that he'd get a spot on the team he'd been yearning for ever since he first came to Collins High in Year Seven. Brutus had been playfully teasing him for months about it being 'The Gloss And Cashmere Show' instead of them being 'separate persons', and after Brutus gave him the imagining of Cashmere getting him into a dance team uniform and prancing around in front of the school, he'd decided he'd had enough. He just hadn't had the chance to talk to Cashmere about it before the sign up sheet drama... and now she was giving him the silent treatment, he knew if he tried to speak to her, nothing would be accomplished.

"Decent job, boys." Coach Lyme's voice rang out around the field. "Go and get your stuff. The notice of who made the team will be posted on Monday." A few cheers from the ones that were completely sure of themselves rang out around the field, but much like Coach Lyme, who just rolled her eyes and ignored it, Gloss just walked over to the side to get his school bag... right when he saw Cashmere and Enobaria there.

"Cashmere?" Gloss frowned. His words came out much more hostile than he had meant; he was more confused than anything. Wasn't Cashmere still angry with him after the sign up thing when he yelled at her? "What are you doing here? I thought you would have been with Clove at the dance team try outs."

"I just wanted to see how you were going. I've never seen you play before." Cashmere said, choosing very wisely to omit the word that Enobaria had used earlier from her words - 'fail.' She already thought that Gloss was mad at her, and she was already kind of mad, but more confused, in return.

Gloss nodded. It was true, she never had seen him play. He often went off on the weekends to play, sometimes with Clove when they were carted off to the mall with the others and were so bored they'd almost fall asleep, but never when Cashmere would know. He knew it was pitiful, being kind of afraid of his sister getting 'suspicious' of him wanting to do something else... but he couldn't bring himself to say no to her. He could be horrible to anyone, even Clove or Brutus if they pissed him off enough, but as soon as he saw Cashmere, no matter what she did... he just couldn't bring himself to get really angry with he... well, most of the time. When he did, it was almost always unintentional.

"Well, now you have." Gloss mumbled awkwardly, having to idea to say. Cashmere dug her freshly manicured nails into her palm, barely gritting her teeth at the pain. She was at least hoping he'd ask to talk to her with Enobaria out of the way and explain why he suddenly didn't want to be so close any more... but he didn't. Instead, he just stood there, as still as a stone.

"Well, did you want to say anything else?" Cashmere asked, hoping she'd be giving him a hint... but soon, she realised that she just sounded like a bit of a spoilt brat instead, something she really wanted to avoid. Great. This already wasn't going well.

"Hey, Gloss!" Brutus came up to Gloss and thumped him on the shoulder, and Gloss smiled a bit, glad for his friend's distraction. "We're having a game in the park. Want to come?"

"Sure." Gloss immediately said, looking at his sister for a moment semi smugly. Quickly, he picked up his school bag and headed off with Brutus and the other boys.

"God. Did you see that smug look he gave me!" Cashmere exclaimed as soon as the boys that had been at the try outs were beginning to look like various coloured dots in the distance. "Ass." She growled. In a way, she was angry with herself. Instead of giving him the silent treatment like a child, she knew she had to just ask him and talk to him... yet she didn't, and it was angering her more than anything.

"Yeah. But then again, he's your brother. He should enjoy pissing you off." Enobaria rolled her eyes, staring at the silver seats the two girls were sitting on with a rather bored appearance on her face, which soon turned into deviousness. Upon noticing, Cashmere sighed. 'The look' of Enobaria's always meant trouble.

"Baria, what on Earth is it now?" Cashmere frowned. "Whatever it is, I'm not in the mood. Half of the time when you give someone 'the look' it seems like you're fantasizing about committing mass homicide."

"Well, maybe I am." Enobaria gave a smile that looked slightly like a grimace, showing off her two very sharp teeth that were off the side. Cashmere always thought it fit perfectly, almost ironically with her last name. Sharpe. "But that doesn't matter right now. Like I said, he's your brother. He should enjoy pissing you off. And in return, you should enjoy getting even. Wouldn't it be funny to have your brother looking over his shoulder for awhile, paranoid someone was following him?" She asked. She had been waiting to test out this revenge plot... but she hadn't found anyone until now.

Cashmere frowned, but her anger and annoyance got the better of her. She gave a nod. For awhile, just to get even, right? Enobaria smirked.

"Cool. Come over to my house tomorrow and I'll tell you what I have in mind?" Enobaria asked.

Once again, Cashmere nodded.

xxx

"Did you see Clove's face when we walked into school today?" Glimmer laughed as her and Cato walked home together. "I wish I'd gotten a picture. It was so priceless." Cato nodded in agreement, producing a laugh of his own.

After the previous day in the office, Glimmer had invited Delly over to her place to give her a bit of a makeover. To be honest, Glimmer didn't really think that Delly needed it all that much, she just gave her a few changes of clothes, a tiny bit of make up; just enough to be noticeable, just to give the girl a bit of a 'pop' to her appearance, and it definitely worked. When she had walked into school with the made over Delly, Cato and Marvel, she was sure that Cato was going to go over and ask Clove if she needed any assistance with scraping her jaw of the floor of Collins High's hallways.

"Yeah. If only we did." Cato nodded to her. "You did a good job, I admit. I always thought Delly looked a bit like a grandmother in that shit she used to wear. In fact, what she wears must either be _bought _by her grandmother, or _made _by her grandmother." At his words, Glimmer swatted at him playfully. As Cato went to lightly push her hand away, he couldn't help but notice that the sleeve of her long white school blouse had come up, revealing what looked like a rather nasty looking scratch. Frowning, he turned to her fully as the blonde girl yanked her sleeve down. "Where did you get that?" He asked. While he would never admit it to anyone, not wanting them to call him soft or weak, he was protective of Glimmer, caring for her deeply as a sister.

"I was playing with your cat yesterday, and she scratched me. Fucking menace." Glimmer lied, though she could see on Cato's face that he believed it. She knew the 'I was scratched by the cat' excuse was ridiculously old and tired, but she knew it would be believed with Cato's cat... she often called it evil in animal form. In fact, it was perfect for Cato just for that reason.

"Yeah. She is still not accepting the diet the vet put her on last visit very well. She almost tore the skin off my ankles when I refused to give her her midnight snack yesterday." Cato rolled his eyes. Glimmer managed a small laugh. Missy, Cato's cat, had a very bad weight problem... and for some reason, it always made her burst out in laugher. Cato, one of the most best in shape guys at school, had a bordering on obese cat. Still, in Glimmer's opinion, they both had an evil streak, so they still fit together.

"Ow." Glimmer wrinkled her nose. "Anyway, back to Delly. I was thinking... since her confidence has really gone up just at a make over... maybe we should get her a date, too? Continue to prove Clove wrong." She smiled. "And I was thinking, since you haven't been on a date in years, or haven't actually had a full date in years without the girl running off after you have offended her..."

"Gee, Glimmer, you certainly make me look like the perfect eligible bachelor." Cato said sarcastically. Glimmer swatted at him again, making sure her sleeve was down, and then kept on speaking, hoping to hide the moment.

"Oh, shut up. It would just be one date to make the girl smile. You can be nice. If you try. You have it in you. You can be nice to me. Remember when you got my puppy out of a drain? And stopped it of dying of blood loss before we got to the vet? And you got photographed for the newspaper-" Glimmer began. Immediately, Cato cringed. He absolutely hated being reminded of that moment.

"Don't remind me. That was the worst day in my life. Clove, Brutus and the rest of those idiots waved that stupid page in the paper in my face for fucking months. I was known as 'Cato Fielding: The Guy That Saves Puppies' until I knocked that guy's two front teeth out in third term. I can still remember the colour and texture of his blood on my knuckles. Such-"

"Eugh. Sometimes, I think you're gonna be a psycho killer one day." Glimmer looked at her boots. "But Delly... one date... what do you say about that? One date wouldn't hurt at all."

"I'll think about it. I won't make any promises, but I will think about it." Cato sighed, watching as Glimmer gave a slightly smile which basically meant 'I already know that victory is going to be mine.'

After Cato's words, the two best friends walked in silence for awhile, Glimmer's house only a few streets away after all of the time they had passed while they had talked about his cat, Delly and everything else that had ended them off topic before Glimmer steered them back on again. It was only when they were about a street or two away from Glimmer's home that the two became alert again. Laying slumped against what looked like an old, partly rusty white car, blood seeping out of her nose and lips, running into her thin blond hair. Her face was busted up absolutely grotesquely, like she had been in a horrible fight with no chance of winning. As soon as she saw the woman, Glimmer looked at Cato.

"Hey... did you see that woman over there?" Glimmer prodded Cato in the shoulder to fully get his attention. Cato's eyes went to the badly beaten woman, and he tried to keep himself under control. Not here. "She looks like your mom. It's kind of scary."

"No way." Cato replied, a little quicker than he had originally meant, earning him a raised eyebrow from Glimmer almost immediately once the words were out. "My step dad would never let that happen to her. Probably just a coincidence." He mumbled.

"You sure?" Glimmer reluctantly looked away from the beaten woman again. "I should go... maybe you should check." Glimmer mumbled. She had a feeling she had hit a raw nerve, and the last thing she wanted was to get Cato angry or upset... bad things happened when he was angry or upset. Cato nodded, and quickly, she waved goodbye and continued up the road on her own. Cato had every right to keep secrets from her. She was doing the same to him.

Cato watched Glimmer until he could barely see her any more, then turned around and looked at the woman. Her eyes, the same ice blue as his own, opened very weakly for a moment. Staring right at him. With desperation.

He knew that look.

_"Damn parasite!" He grabbed one of the many discarded bottles by his feet and threw it at the teenager, but Cato quickly dodged it. Even sober, the guy was completely mad... and he needed to get out. Now. Cato stepped back and began to rapidly fumble for the doorknob to the exit of the apartment. Once he got the door open, the older man's face flushed even redder with rage. _

_Cato watched as the man threw another beer bottle at him, another one quickly dodged, and then began to head out the hall to the stairs. He noticed something else in the man's hand before he turned. A bottle of glass cleaner. He frowned as he began to run. Glass cleaner. _

_"Did I give you permission to run from me, _boy?" _Cato fumed with rage, and just as he reached the stairs, turned around, prepared to shove him... just as the glass cleaner sprayed him right in his eyes. With a loud shriek, he stepped back and tumbled, down... down... down... not hitting his head, but at this point, he wished he had and blacked at. His eyes were on fire, as if someone had inserted tiny daggers into his pupils, shut tightly even though he knew deep down it would make no difference. _

_When the tumbling stopped, he forced himself to open his eyes, which was absolute hell. He was greeted with the face of his mother._

_His eyes, the exact shade of hers, filled with desperation, met hers. Say. Something. Say. Something. He does it to both of us. We can fight back. _

_Instead, he was greeted with laughter. _

_"Clumsy boy." His mother said as if he was five and not fifteen years old. "Come on, let's get you back inside."_

Cato's eyes opened rapidly at the flashback of what was one of the worst moments of his life. He doubted that it would ever be topped. His eyes met his mother's again, and he just shook his head. _You're not getting any fucking sympathy from me. _

xxx

Clove sat on the floor of her large bedroom, her homework strung around her. As she scribbled down an answer to a difficult Maths question, she heard the sound of her stomach growling, making her close her eyes.

**Shut up. You're not hungry. **_Yes you are. Ravenous. You could eat a whole chocolate cake by yourself, it's in a box in the fridge, you know. And Mom brought home some of your favourite muffins. And there's some caramel slice left on the kitchen counter that Marley couldn't finish. _**No. Get some water. You must feel full. Stop acting like a fat, crazy slut. **_Come on. You want to eat it. Every single bite, then off to the bathroom. Fingers down the throat. Get rid of the evidence. _**Shut up. You will not eat. You will not binge. Stop ruining my will with filthy thoughts. **

Clove snapped her eyes shut tightly, willing her mind to stop fighting with itself. She didn't even know what side was the right one to listen to any more. If she had the muffins and the other delicious treats downstairs, she would still feel guilty long after she had emptied the contents of her stomach forcefully into the toilet bowl. If she didn't eat, she wouldn't have to face the guilt. But the food... She couldn't let herself have them. She couldn't let herself _want _them. Much, much too many calories.

She almost screamed out loud, letting all the screams that had been building up in her head during the last week or so out, but then she heard the door of her room open, and in turn, she opened her eyes. Her mother, bringer of the loathsome foods that made her mouth water and her body both ache for and despise at the same time. She tried to keep a plain expression, while inside, all she wanted was to be left alone.

"Clove?" Her mother came in and sat on her bed, sighing as she noticed all the exercise books, text books, pens, pencils and sheets strung across the room. "Tough homework afternoon?"

"Yeah." Clove lied with a nod. Her mother totally bought it, even though Clove had put minimal effort into her agreement.

"Well, this might cheer you up." Her mother smiled. Clove felt guilty in a way. When her mother smiled, it was warm and genuine, but when Clove smiled, she now had no idea if her smile was actually real or not any more. "The Wallace family invited us over for dinner tonight. Make sure to wear something nice for Brutus."

Clove forced herself to keep calm. She had no idea how her mother would think going over and eating dinner with Brutus's family would actually make her feel better, but then she remembered, her mother didn't know. Would her mother still think that Brutus was a nice boy if she knew how many bruises her had placed on her body, that he had drugged her and raped her at a party, almost only a week ago? Would she believe her if she told her? Oh, no, honey, Brutus could never do that. He's attractive, he plays sport and is good at it, he's rich, he has so much promise...

Would any one care? With the way she treated people, she wouldn't put it past them of they actually thought she deserved to be raped. Now, she believed it.

"Oh, that's great." Clove lied, trying to put more into her last lie than her last one as she realised something else. This wouldn't just include Brutus, either. It would also include people at a dinner table she couldn't avoid.. having to eat. Both scared her, and there they were. "I'll go get dressed."

"Great, honey. Give us a yell when you're ready." Her mother patted her head before leaving the room, Clove immediately shutting the door once she was gone. Would never being ready be an option? Most likely: no.

Clove went to her closet and picked out a grey dress that reached just below her knees, as well as a black cardigan to cover her bare arms. She hated having anything exposed now, as if just by seeing her bare arm that they could tell that someone had been there. Even though the dress was the longest one she owned, it still scared her a little going out in it. Monday brought more anxiety. She had seen the new dance team uniform, and it brought her terror. It was definitely a Brutus pick. She shuddered.

After picking out the clothes, the worst part came: getting dressed. Clove peeled off her school clothes and peered at herself in her mirror almost shyly. The bruises and scratches on her side didn't look as sinister, but it didn't erase the memories of waking up with them, realising what had happened the night before. And all the fat, clinging to her side. She was sure it was there, poking out like the annoyance it was. Always imperfections. If her inside was so ruined, then why couldn't she have a perfect outside?

She quickly whipped the dress and cardigan on, as well as some shoes, giving her hair a brush before heading downstairs, dreading the night that was to come. Brutus and having to eat. In his eyes, always too much. She wondered if Brutus would like her if she was nothing but a skeleton, stripped of everything.

xxx

The Wallace family at first glance seemed like the perfect family. They lived in the richest part of town as Clove did, have one of the best looking houses in town, and seemingly didn't have any problems or any cares in the world. The people seemed perfect at first glance too. A handsome husband with a job to die for. A pretty wife that made the house look pristine. A son; only child, that had a promising future in sport. Perfect, right?

Clove perched herself on the lounge in the living room of the Wallace family house... or maybe even mansion, though she didn't want to push it. Brutus's fingers were knotted in hers; a normal gesture for a couple. Caring boyfriend mode; there were people all around them. Still, the gesture made her tense. How could no one see right through him?

The dark haired girl felt eyes on her, and immediately, they nervously went to Brutus. Nope. His eyes were trained on the football game the was playing on the television, making her roll her eyes. What was it with some people and their obsessions with sport? She looked at her parents. Nope. Too busy speaking with Brutus's father. His mother, however, was completely silent. His mother!

Brutus's mother, Mildred, had always both fascinated her and confused her. She had barely ever heard a peep out of her except for the usual 'dinner's ready,' and she always seemed kind of boring, but still, she met the woman's cage. She looked so tired and out of it, so done, somewhere else that Clove could never identify... but that was when she started to recognise the outline of a black eye, covered in thick make up. She had done this many times herself. Tedious work, trying to make it all blend in.

That was when it hit her. Oh God. Oh God.

If she didn't get out of it, she would be Mildred one day, sitting in that chair with no hope left. She could even see it in her mind. Her heart started to race... she couldn't let it happen.

xxx


End file.
